Background: Occupational health and safety issues among Latino immigrants are increasingly important as increased immigration has led to a burgeoning workforce with limited English language skills or lack of documentation status. Foreign-born Latino immigrants are consistently the ethnic group with the highest occupational mortality rates in the United States. We aimed to understand and document the occupational safety and health hazards faced by a particularly at-risk Latino immigrant workforce-cedar block cutters, or bloqueros-on the Olympic Peninsula. Methods: Key informant interviews were conducted using community-based participatory methods. Qualitative analysis was guided by grounded theory and a social ecological framework. Results: Thirteen interviews were conducted lasting 1-2hr each. Three prominent findings arose: (1) bloqueros face occupational risks similar to those found in other forestry occupations, (2) bloqueros face unexpected risks that are likely unique to block cutting, and (3) bloqueros face four overlapping marginalization forces (societal, economical, political, and occupational) that undermine workplace health and safety. Conclusions: Bloqueros work low-paying, high-risk jobs with little health and safety regulation, documentation, or coverage. Workers' precarious socio-economic position and various structural factors compound workplace risks and contribute to a lack of ability to advocate for safer and healthier working conditions. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc..

Social-ecology Forestry Latino immigrant occupational health Safety CBPR

ecology methodology demography poverty human risk assessment social isolation middle aged statistics language Washington Hispanic Americans qualitative research Residence Characteristics Safety Management United States Humans workplace Hispanic male Emigrants and Immigrants occupational exposure safety pilot study Article adult Social Environment migration Forestry participatory research Community-Based Participatory Research occupational health Pilot Projects public health