Immigrants have lower rate of non-fatal injuries than U.S. workers

Foreign-born workers have a lower rate of non-fatal, work-related injuries than employees who were born in the United States, according to a recent study funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

However, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that while the rate of injury was lower among foreign-born workers, the severity of the injuries they sustained was greater. According to the study, released in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, injuries to foreign-born workers were more likely to result in hospitalization and six or more days of missed work than injuries to U.S.-born workers.

The research was based on data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the National Health Interview Survey from 1997 to 2005.

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"With immigrant workers comprising a significant portion of workers in the United States, it's important that we identify the needs of foreign-born workers and address safety issues facing them in the workplace," said Huiyan Xiang, principle investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy and faculty member of The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "Using this information will help to develop occupational safety guidelines specifically for foreign-born workers."

The study also examined non-fatal, work-related injuries in general. Overall, the construction, manufacturing, and agriculture/forestry and fisheries industries had the highest rates of work-related injuries in both foreign- and U.S.-born workers. In each of these industries, researchers said the injury rate was lower among foreign-born workers than U.S.-born workers, but the severity of injuries was similar. Overexertion and falls were the two most common external causes of injury for both foreign-born and U.S.-born workers. Results also showed that Hispanic workers had higher overall work-related injuries than African-Americans and Asians, but that these rates were still lower than the rates of non-Hispanic whites.

January 29, 2009

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