Lee Amanda A, Ingram Maia, Quijada Carolina, Yubeta Andres, Cortez Imelda, Lothrop Nathan, Beamer Paloma
Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Feb 2;21(1):271. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10336-4.
Throughout the United States, low-wage, minority workers are disproportionately affected by occupational illnesses and injuries. Chronic exposure to hazardous chemicals at work can lead to serious illnesses, contributing to health inequities. In this article, we expand on theories of 'responsibilization' in an occupational health context to reveal how responsibilities for workplace chemical exposures are negotiated by workers and owners in Latinx-owned small businesses.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with a total of 22 workers and owners in auto repair shops and beauty salons - two high-risk industries - in Southern Metropolitan Tucson. Participants were asked about their insights into workplace chemical exposures and health. A qualitative analysis team with representation from all study partner organizations collectively coded and reviewed the interview data in QSR International's NVivo 11 and identified overarching themes across the interviews.
We identified three primary themes: 1) ambivalence toward risks in the workplace; 2) shifting responsibilities for exposure protection at work; and 3) reflections on the system behind chemical exposure risks. Participants discussed the complexities that small businesses face in reducing chemical exposures.
Through our analysis of the interviews, we examine how neoliberal occupational and environmental policies funnel responsibility for controlling chemical exposures down to individuals in small businesses with limited resources, obscuring the power structures that maintain environmental health injustices. We conclude with a call for upstream policy changes that more effectively regulate and hold accountable the manufacturers of chemical products used daily by small business workers.
在美国各地，低薪少数族裔工人受职业疾病和伤害的影响尤为严重。工作中长期接触有害化学物质会导致严重疾病，加剧健康不平等。在本文中，我们拓展了职业健康背景下的“责任化”理论，以揭示拉丁裔拥有的小企业中工人和企业主如何就工作场所化学物质暴露的责任进行协商。
我们对图森市南部大都市地区的汽车修理店和美容院这两个高风险行业的22名工人和企业主进行了半结构化访谈。参与者被问及他们对工作场所化学物质暴露和健康的见解。一个由所有研究伙伴组织代表组成的定性分析团队在QSR国际公司的NVivo 11中对访谈数据进行了集体编码和审查，并确定了访谈中的总体主题。
我们确定了三个主要主题：1）对工作场所风险的矛盾态度；2）工作中接触防护责任的转移；3）对化学物质暴露风险背后系统的反思。参与者讨论了小企业在减少化学物质暴露方面面临的复杂性。
通过对访谈的分析，我们研究了新自由主义的职业和环境政策如何将控制化学物质暴露的责任下放到资源有限的小企业中的个人身上，从而掩盖了维持环境健康不公正的权力结构。我们呼吁进行上游政策改革，以更有效地监管并追究小企业工人日常使用的化学产品制造商的责任。
