Hispanic Immigrants, Black Men Have Highest Job Injury Rate

Hardly a surprise, but a study bears it out: Hispanic immigrants and African-American men have the highest rate of workplace injury and disability. Hispanic immigrants are number one. Hispanic immigrant men ages 18 to 64 have the highest rate, at 13.7 per 1,000 workers, followed by African American men, and then U.S.-born Hispanic men.  The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Boston University, and was based on an analysis of government statistics. “We found that their risk was higher even when we accounted for education and other demographic characteristics,” said Seth Seabury, the study’s lead author. The study itself did not attempt to identify underlying causes, but noted that more than 40 years ago a study of black steel workers found they were typically assigned to work the top-side of coke ovens and as a result were exposed to high levels of carcinogenic emissions. “Disparities in economic opportunities for minorities lead them to take more hazardous jobs that raise their risk of injury and disability,” Seabury said.