• Joseph G Grzywacz, Sara A Quandt, Antonio Marín, Phillip Summers, Wei Lang, Thomas Mills, Carlos Evia, Julia Rushing, Katherine Donadio, and Thomas A Arcury.
• Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. grzywacz@wakehealth.edu
• Am. J. Ind. Med. 2012 Aug 1;55(8):698-706.

BackgroundRates of occupational injury among immigrant workers are widely believed to be underestimated. The goal of this study was to enhance understanding of the burden of occupational injury and the work organization factors underlying injury among immigrant Latino residential construction workers.MethodsProspective data were obtained from a community-based sample of Latino residential construction workers (N = 107) over a 3-month period.ResultsTwenty-eight participants were injured, resulting in an injury incidence rate of 55.0/100 FTE (95% CI = 41.4-71.6) during the 3-month observation period. The injury rate involving days away from work during the observation period was 3.9/100 FTE (CI = 0.2-7.2). Injuries were elevated among roofers relative to framers and general construction workers. Roofers had elevated exposure to a variety of deleterious work organization factors.ConclusionsAlthough imprecise given the small sample, our results suggest a threefold to fourfold underestimate of the injury burden to immigrant Latino construction workers. Work organization may contribute to elevated rates of non-fatal occupational injury, particularly among roofers.Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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