The political economy of public health

Furton, Glenn; Rizzo, Mario J.; Harper, David A.

doi:10.1007/s11127-022-01031-y

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Lastly, as Furton and colleagues [82] suggest, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought opportunity to make structural changes because institutions become more malleable as they respond to health crises. This study highlighted the organizational aspects of the agricultural industry and workplace that require structural changes to support the health of farmworkers.…”

Section: Policy Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Organizational Aspects of the U.S. Agricultural Industry and Socioeconomic and Political Conditions on Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Workplace Safety

Perez-Lua,

Chan-Golston,

Burke

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Farmworkers in the U.S. experienced high rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their workplace may have been a significant place of exposure to the novel coronavirus. Using political economy of health theory, this study sought to understand how organizational aspects of the agricultural industry and broader socioeconomic and political conditions shaped farmworkers’ COVID-19 workplace safety during the pandemic. Between July 2020 and April 2021, we conducted and analyzed fourteen in-depth, semi-structured phone interviews with Latinx farmworkers in California. Findings show that regulatory oversight reinforced COVID-19 workplace safety. In the absence of regulatory oversight, the organization of the agricultural industry produced COVID-19 workplace risks for farmworkers; it normalized unsafe working conditions and the worker—rather than employer—responsibility for workplace safety. Under these conditions, farmworkers enacted personal COVID-19 preventative practices but were limited by financial hardships that were exacerbated by the precarious nature of agricultural employment and legal status exclusions from pandemic-related aid. Unsafe workplace conditions negatively impacted workplace camaraderie. Study findings have implications for farmworkers’ individual and collective agency to achieve safe working conditions. Occupational safety interventions must address the organizational aspects that produce workplace health and safety inequities and disempower farmworkers in the workplace.

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Section: Policy Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%