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An essay is presented on the subject of cigarette smoking among U.S. laborers in factories, corporate spying on workers, and the social culture of shopfloors in the U.S. during the 20th century. It examines the records of Erie, Pennsylvania, paper manufacturer Hammermill Paper Company concerning employee cigarette consumption, how employees attempted to evade corporate surveillance of their smoking, and labor relations in the U.S.

Objectives: A cost-efficient approach for assessing working postures could be to build statistical models for predicting results of direct measurements from cheaper data, and apply these models to samples in which only the latter data are available. The present study aimed to build and assess the performance of statistical models predicting inclinometer-assessed trunk and arm posture among paper mill workers. Separate models were built using administrative data, workers' ratings of their exposure, and observations of the work from video recordings as predictors. Methods: Trunk and upper arm postures were measured using inclinometry on 28 paper mill workers during three work shifts each. Simultaneously, the workers were video filmed, and their postures were assessed by observation of the videos afterwards. Workers' ratings of exposure, and administrative data on staff and production during the shifts were also collected. Linear mixed models were fitted for predicting inclinometer-assessed exposure variables (median trunk and upper arm angle, proportion of time with neutral trunk and upper arm posture, and frequency of periods in neutral trunk and upper arm inclination) from administrative data, workers' ratings, and observations, respectively. Performance was evaluated in terms of Akaike information criterion, proportion of variance explained (R²), and standard error (SE) of the model estimate. For models performing well, validity was assessed by bootstrap resampling. Results: Models based on administrative data performed poorly (R² ≤ 15%) and would not be useful for assessing posture in this population. Models using workers' ratings of exposure performed slightly better (8% < R² ≤ 27% for trunk posture; 14% < R² ≤ 36% for arm posture). The best model was obtained when using observational data for predicting frequency of periods with neutral arm inclination. It explained 56% of the variance in the postural exposure, and its SE was 5.6. Bootstrap validation of this model showed similar expected performance in other samples (5th-95th percentile: R² = 45-63%; SE = 5.1-6.2). Conclusions: Observational data had a better ability to predict inclinometer-assessed upper arm exposures than workers' ratings or administrative data. However, observational measurements are typically more expensive to obtain. The results encourage analyses of the cost-efficiency of modeling based on administrative data, workers' ratings, and observation, compared to the performance and cost of measuring exposure directly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health scientists have claimed that urban transit workers suffer from higher rates of stress-related disease than workers in most other occupations. This paper examines how a network of scientists and labor organizers constructed the problem of transit worker stress as a global phenomenon. According to study participants, transit workers worldwide are subject to a similar set of stress-related risks, which can serve as a basis for worker solidarity. This paper analyzes how the concept of stress has been used to identify pathogenic environments and considers anthropological claims that the concept often abstracts and depoliticizes harmful arrangements. The findings show that scientists and labor organizers use the stress concept to construct a figure of a universally at-risk transit worker that serves the ends of transnational labor organizing. At the same time, by focusing on the case of San Francisco's transit workers, this analysis shows that a persistent association between stress and 'hard work'—in both lay and scientific discourses—may block recognition of stress-related harms for transit workers who are accused of being lazy and overpaid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though most machines installed in job-shops are equipped with automatic processing functions, there are cases in which manual processing by workers is also partially required. The working hours for these workers include break times. Manual processing cannot be performed during a break, but automatic processing can continue. A local search method incorporating genetic operations focusing on a block on the critical path is proposed to obtain the shortest makespan schedule in such an environment. In addition, this paper develops a mixed integer programming model (MIP) for exact optimization. In numerical experiments, the developed MIP obtained the optimal solution in one problem instance of ten machines and ten jobs. The proposed method found one optimal solution in ten trials. For problem instances of 15 machines and 15 jobs, the MIP model could not find optimal solutions in all instances within 24 hours of computation. A genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimization was also applied to these ten instances. The proposed method found better solutions than the best solutions by MIP in six instances by conducting ten trials. The proposed method was also superior to the GA-based approximate optimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversation and dialogue are used as a central process within youth work. Whilst much has been written about the micro-skills of conversation, less attention has been paid to the philosophical realm. This paper examines how dialogue in youth work can be deepened when juxtaposed with the philosophies, principles and theories of conversation. Using qualitative and phenomenological methodologies, this study involved 32 youth workers from across Northern Ireland, in focus groups (N = 8) and interviews (N = 24). The findings illustrate how youth workers perceived dialogue in their practice, pointing to the connections with relationship-building, the development of critical consciousness and the equalizing of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the constructed rural community residents' health information literacy evaluation system, this paper proposes a rural community residents' health information literacy evaluation method based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. Based on the intuitionistic fuzzy set, the multistage interactive group evaluation method whose data form is a point set has been expanded, and the intuitionistic fuzzy set that expresses objective things more delicately and truly is used to reflect the evaluator's preference, which can well simulate the human decision-making psychology and improve the applicability of the interactive group evaluation method. How to accurately measure the value information of relevant intuitionistic fuzzy numbers in uncertain environment has become a difficult problem. Therefore, it is very important to excavate important information in intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, deal with intuitionistic fuzzy numbers, and study the theory and method of multicriteria decision-making under fuzzy information. In this paper, we conducted a research on the health information literacy evaluation model of rural community residents based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets and multicriteria, and found that the formation rate of health behaviors of manual workers is relatively low, and the formation rate of healthy behaviors of female, elderly, and highly educated people is relatively high. A high level of education is conducive to improving the level of residents' health knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of employers implement worksite health promotion programs (WHPPs). In particular, blue-collar workers may benefit from these WHPPs. However, they are less likely than other workers to participate and little is known about which factors affect their participation. The aim of this scoping literature review is to produce an overview of studies on factors associated with blue-collar workers' participation in WHPPs. Five databases were searched: BSU, PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science and CINAHL. The review included peer-reviewed empirical studies on determinants associated with blue-collar workers' participation in WHPPs. Factors were extracted and categorized. Similar determinants were clustered and the direction of the associations was further examined. Nineteen papers describing 11 qualitative and 4 quantitative studies met the eligibility criteria. Seventy-seven determinants were analyzed (in quantitative studies) or reported (in qualitative studies). In most studies, only participant characteristics were investigated. Participation may be enhanced by addressing needs, tailoring from a broad range of activities, offering group activities, requiring little effort and commitment at the start, using incentives, leading by example and combining WHPPs with occupational safety interventions. WHPPs seem to be able to reach blue-collar workers, but it remains particularly challenging to reach shift workers and those who do not yet experience health complaints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore the factors influencing the emergence and growth of informal e-waste activities and to examine workers' motivation for involvement in informal e-waste activities. Semi-structured interviews and observations among actors in the recently established Dagomba-Line e-waste site in Kumasi, Ghana were employed to gather relevant data. Emergence and growth of e-waste activities are largely influenced by spatial, political, socio-cultural and economic factors. The reuse and open disposal of e-waste are the common practices due to the cost of transportation to a final disposal site. Similar to findings at the well-established Agbogbloshie e-waste site, also in Ghana, scavengers are found at the bottom of the e-waste financial ladder. The major motivating factor for engaging in e-waste handling is poverty. Additionally, some respondents mentioned the lucrative nature of the activity, landlessness, and peer influence as a motivation. The results showed that younger workers (below 35 years) were more likely to be engaged in the activity for reasons of peer influence and poverty and major source of livelihood. The paper recommends that policy and planning should reflect ways of delivering and creating stable socio-economic conditions that promote an inclusive and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper presents a cross-sectional longitudinal study on the relationship between sleep and work-related impairment of rational features and psychological management among construction workers. Materials and Methods: Questionnaire surveys were conducted to the construction workers at the workplace. Impairments in rational features and psychological control were not associated with sleep duration or rotating shift schedules. The link between sleep disorder and psychological management was also transient, as a sleep disorder may be related to immediate and future impairments in psychological management Results: The findings indicated that thirteen per cent of the variance in the disturbed rational feature at the initial stage [F(6, 382) =11.77, p=0.01] and 24% of the variance in the unsettled rational feature at the final stage [F(6, 168) =11.55, p=0.01] were determined by the multiple hierarchical regression and psychological management has 11% of the variance at the initial stage and 9% of the conflict in unsettled psychological management at the final stage [F(7, 179) =3.71, p=0.01]. Conclusion: Sound sleep is an integral part of human health. Construction workers are often required to undergo accelerated training after being hired, resulting in inadequate sleep and subsequently impacting their psychological well-being. The study recommends that construction workers focus more on optimal sleep quality and quantity, as sleep disturbances could affect psychological well-being, decrease performance, and increase risks in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is not a clinical study, but it has some important conclusions for occupational health. Strategies for reducing occupational stigma should be prioritized to increase gig workers' workplace well-being. Giving gig workers more control over their work is likely to buffer the detrimental effect of occupational stigma on work-contingent self-esteem. Objective: In this article, the influence of occupational stigma on workplace well-being of platform-based food-delivery workers is examined. The mediation effect of work-contingent self-esteem and the moderating effect of job control are also assessed. Methods: Questionnaire data from 362 platform-based food-delivery workers were gathered at three time points, and multiple regression analyses were used to test each hypothesis. Results: Occupational stigma reduces workplace well-being of platform-based food-delivery workers, and this relationship is mediated by work-contingent self-esteem. Job control exerts a negative moderating effect on the relationship between occupational stigma and platform-based food-delivery workers' work-contingent self-esteem. Conclusions: Strategies for reducing occupational stigma should be prioritized to increase workplace well-being in gig workers. Giving them more control over their work will likely alleviate the detrimental effect of occupational stigma on work-contingent self-esteem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers and their families bear much of the economic burden of COVID‐19. Even though they have declined somewhat, unemployment rates are considerably higher than before the start of the pandemic. Many workers also face uncertainty about their future employment prospects and increasing financial strain. At the same time, the workplace is a common source of transmission of COVID‐19 and many jobs previously seen as relatively safe are now viewed as potentially hazardous. Thus, many workers face dual threats of economic stress and COVID‐19 exposure. This paper develops a model of workers' responses to these dual threats, including risk perception and resource depletion as mediating factors that influence the relationship of economic stress and occupational risk factors with COVID‐19 compliance‐related attitudes, safe behavior at work, and physical and mental health outcomes. The paper also describes contextual moderators of these relationships at the individual, unit, and regional level. Directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the investigation of kolberi (cross‐border labor), this paper sheds light on the state's policy of de‐development (or internal colonialization) of the Kurdish region (known as Rojhelat) in Iran. While the most dangerous form of labor, kolberi has become a dominant employment opportunity for Rojhelat Kurds in the last decade. There are no Iranian state laws criminalizing kolberi, and yet those laborers die on a regular basis—being shot or thrown off mountain cliffs by the state forces, stepping into minefields, and so forth. Nevertheless, there is not a single scholarly paper on this subject. Using the mixed methods research approach, our study analyzes the existing data along with in‐depth interviews with 20 people who are currently engaged in kolberi to contextualize this understudied phenomenon. Our finding demonstrates that kolberi is a direct outcome of a uni‐ethno‐religious policies of development and part and parcel of the state's Perso‐Shi'ification strategy in Kurdistan. Therefore, kolberi is more of a political phenomenon than an economic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses information on a sample of 430 blue collar workers from different manufacturing industries of Ahmedabad, India to examine the influence of worker's compensation on their wage and mortality rates. This relation has a direct impact on the value of statistical life (VSL) estimates which is used to evaluate various health and safety policies. The compensation benefit plays a significant role in worker's compensation package however it has not received much attention in previous Indian studies. Inclusion of the compensation variable not only raises the co-efficient of risk variables but also increases the value of statistical life and value of statistical injury (VSI) estimates. The result of this study indicates that trade-off between worker's wage and compensation benefit exists for the workers in the sample. The estimated VSL that captures the effect of compensation benefit ranges between INR 30.27 million ($0.46 million) and INR 72.11 million ($1.10 million) while the estimated VSI ranges between INR 1.94 million ($0.029 million) and INR 2.82 million ($0.043 million). Besides, this paper goes further to study the rate of substitution between worker's compensation benefit and their wage and finds that the benefit levels are sub-optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the use of Augmented Reality Smart Glasses (ARSGs) in order-picking tasks in warehouses and explores their impact on workers' well-being. While previous research has primarily focused on the performance advantages of ARSGs, this study provides a new perspective by investigating the human factor and perceptions of worker well-being in two empirical studies. The results corroborate previous findings that ARSGs enhance order-picking efficiency by improving workers' speed and reducing error rates. Additionally, the results reveal that using ARSGs directly increases perceptions of well-being compared to traditional support tools. However, contrary to expectations, ARSG use does not generally lead to higher job satisfaction or perceived productivity enhancements for all workers. Technology savviness is identified as a crucial individual factor that shapes these effects, with tech-savvy workers benefiting more from ARSG use. Overall, this research underscores the importance of tailoring ARSG implementation to the specific needs and characteristics of the workforce and highlights the need for further investigation into the beneficiaries of ARSG technology. • Augmented reality smart glasses (ARSGs) improve efficiency in order-picking tasks, enhancing speed and reducing error rates. • ARSG use directly increases workers' perceptions of well-being compared to traditional support tools. • This is driven by increased job satisfaction and perceived productivity, but only for workers with high technology savviness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to unravelling the perceptions of urban commercial drivers regarding their vulnerability to catching the SARS-CoV-2 virus while at work. It further examines how the perception of vulnerability influences personal use of face masks by drivers, as well as on their insistence on appropriate masking behaviour by other persons on-board public transport. Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in informal public transport in Africa could facilitate the spread of the corona virus. However, the use of face masks, among other enhanced mitigation measures significantly contain and minimize the spread of the virus. Primary data, obtained through surveys at five major public transport terminals in Accra, was analysed and interpreted using the Health Belief Model as an explanatory framework. Results indicate that most drivers have a high vulnerability perception to Covid-19. It further emerged that older drivers, in particular, consistently wore face masks and insisted on other persons in their commercial vehicles to follow suit. Socio-demographic factors, and the need to ensure one's personal safety and those of loved ones were critical determinants of face mask use among surveyed drivers. The study thus recommends that public awareness campaigns should strategically focus attention on the younger generation of drivers (i.e. 18–39 years) who perceived themselves to be immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Also, the collaborative efforts of state and non-state actors, like the transport operator unions, must be further strengthened if the gains made so far against Covid-19 is to be sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour migration is an important livelihood strategy for individuals in low- and middle-income countries, and involve potential benefits and challenges. This paper reviews the coping strategies used by migrants to manage migration-related stressors. A systematic review and narrative analysis was conducted. Study quality was appraised using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and STROBE. The review identified 30 studies representing migrants from over 33 countries. Problem-solving, support-seeking, and accommodation were the most common strategies used to cope with job stress; irregular legal status; stigma; family and health issues. Some strategies created risks for themselves, such as delaying healthcare access, excessive alcohol consumption, or for others by reporting on irregular migrants to authorities. Most of the stressors were related to the job. Policies and interventions should aim to enhance migrants' ability to cope with migration-related stressors particularly as labour migration is unlikely to reduce in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many blue-collar jobs, most of which are performed by men, are likely to be displaced by automation. These workers will, therefore, need to be retrained and reskilled, many of them choosing for engineering education as mature students. This paper uses Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to draw a complex portrait of the experience of blue-collar men studying engineering as mature students in Denmark. We found that the participants faced considerable challenges in their engineering studies: they brought baggage from a challenging youth, from family traumas and educational failures; they felt alienation and cynicism about the world and saw their own possibilities for progress thereby limited; and they experienced difficulties with the contents and the process of the engineering curriculum. However, they persisted with faith in engineering education as a gateway to a better life and a sense of social responsibility as future engineers. The study concludes that more pro-active university support systems would alleviate the difficulties faced by such students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Differentiated effects of offshoring on employment across industries and professional groups. • Offshoring activities are mainly driven by a cost reduction (labour saving) rationale. • Negative effects of offshoring on employment are found in the manufacturing industry and among the least qualified jobs. • In high-technology industries, the negative effects of offshoring on employment are found among managers and crafts. • In low-technology industries, job losses are found among manual workers. This paper assesses the employment impact of offshoring in five European countries (Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom), distinguishing between different types of inputs/tasks offshored, different types of offshoring industries and types of professional groups. The empirical evidence shows that offshoring activities are mainly driven by a cost reduction (labour saving) rationale. This is particularly the case for the manufacturing industry where offshoring is found to exert a negative impact among the less qualified or more routinized types of jobs, while the main difference between high- and low-technology industries has to do with the type of labour tasks that are offshored and the types of domestic jobs that are affected. In high-technology industries the negative effects of offshoring on employment are concentrated among managers and crafts. A specular pattern is found in the case of the low-technology industries where job losses are found among manual workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep disorders have an enormous impact on occupational health and are counterproductive from an economic perspective. However, the processes of causing sleep disorders from psychosocial aspects have not yet been known. The purpose of this study was to describe how sleep disorders develop among workers with respect to different psychosocial conditions. Methods: A conventional qualitative content analysis was conducted with a semi-structured interview among twenty-seven workers (14 males and 13 females) who were diagnosed with sleep disorders or had a self-reported history of sleep difficulties. Study participants were recruited from a specialized clinic and communities using snowball sampling. This paper adhered to the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist. Results: The results showed that there were four steps involved in the sleep disorders development process. Firstly, participants with sleep disorders developed 'early warning signs' with 11 categories of triggers; secondly, 'aggravating factors' on top of these early warning signs; thirdly, workers tried to 'cope with' their sleep disorders in the ways they thought would be effective. Finally, when coping failed to improve the quality of sleep, it led to the onset of sleep disorders. Conclusion: The development of sleep disorders and triggers of psychosocial factors were revealed. An occupational health nurse can bring these findings in practice for preventing worker's sleep disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Literature debates whether young persons' participation in social work decisions is tokenistic in nature or it empowers them to shape their world. By and large, young persons deemed at risk remain the targets of intervention. This paper aims to underscore the need to move beyond soliciting young persons' voice merely in order to corroborate information provided by adults and professionals in social work assessment and intervention. Instead, it explicates the philosophical foundation for social workers to treat young persons as knowledgeable agents capable of contributing to professional knowledge. Findings Through reinterpretation of a published case study on children of sex worker mothers in India, this paper highlights how young persons are active agents of their own lives even in extreme dire situations. These children of sex worker mothers were capable of advocating for their own rights as well as that of their mothers. Through the secondary analysis of data, we illustrated the dynamic process of knowledge construction by young persons. Application By paying attention to the young persons' capacity as knowledgeable agents we propose social workers to intentionally incorporate their knowledge in their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the multi-workday vehicle routing problem (MW-VRP) where delivery workers are pre-assigned to vehicles. At customer locations, workers must manually unload goods from vehicles. For each worker, the daily accumulated physical workload depends on the number of customers served by the vehicle and load demands at those customers. The MW-VRP is intended to determine daily delivery routes for a given set of vehicles over the multi-workday delivery period such that the maximum average percent residual energy (PRE) among all workers is minimized. A heuristic procedure is developed to firstly determine delivery routes for vehicles. Next, a greedy exchange algorithm is used to decrease the maximum average PRE among workers and total travel distance of vehicles. The results from the given numerical example show that the heuristic procedure is able to generate the routing solution with the same maximum average PRE as that from the optimal solution, but with a slightly greater total travel distance (11.57%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to establish whether clinical depression and increased suicide risk differed between Australian fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers and their residential counterparts in the resources sector. We also sought to identify whether bullying and social support were associated with depression and suicide risk in this cohort. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Completed questionnaires were received from 751 respondents who were employed in the Australian resources sector. Primary outcomes were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Hopelessness Scale and Negative Acts Questionnaire – Revised. A general linear model was used to examine the association between depression, hopelessness and predictive factors. Results: The results of a general linear model analysis demonstrated that depression (partial η2 = 0.02; P = 0.01) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.02; P = 0.02) were significantly higher in residential than FIFO workers. In addition, bullying was significantly associated with higher levels of depression (partial η2 = 0.11; P = 0.001) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.04; P = 0.001). Finally, increased social support was significantly associated with lower depression rates (partial η2 = 0.13; P = 0.001) and hopelessness (partial η2 = 0.14; P = 0.001). Conclusions: Interventions should be delivered to reduce depression and hopelessness in Australian resource workers, particularly through addressing workplace bullying and enhancing social support. What is known about the topic?: One-third of Australian resource workers experience psychosocial distress. Research examining factors that influence such distress is lacking. What does this paper add?: The results of this study demonstrate that clinical depression and suicide risk were significantly higher in residential resource workers than in FIFO workers. Depression and suicide risk were directly associated with workplace bullying. In addition, social support was an important protective factor against depression and bullying in Australian FIFO and residential resource workers. What are the implications for practitioners?: There is an urgent need to introduce interventions that reduce psychosocial distress in the resource sector, particularly through the mitigation of bullying [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents some aspects of the political action proposal of a contemporary Brazilian social movement: The Movimento das Comunidades Populares (People's Communities Movement), MCP. Reflecting on the utopian horizon of this collectivity, as well as on what kind of inspirations it seeks in the Brazilian past, this paper sought to understand the notion of utopia and uchronia applied to the specific case of the MCP. Consisting primarily of manual workers and focused on urban or rural peripheral areas, this social movement develops its action through the creation of what they call 'People's Communities'. Its political work consists in organizing these areas by creating schools, day care centers, health groups, economic initiatives based on a model of collective and non-hierarchical work (there are no bosses, nor employees), cultural events, parties and celebrations, among other activities. Organizing the communities is therefore considered the essential way to reach their strategic horizon. But to build these communities they also seek inspiration in other social movements of the Brazilian past. These movements serve as uchronias for the MCP as they represent interrupted pasts that the movement wishes to regain. An uchronia transformed into utopia, and this utopia, in turn, is an applied utopia: a 'concrete utopia', embodied in the political action of this movement that assumes in daily practices the creation of a Communitarian Socialism as their ultimate goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In this paper, we aim to estimate the effect cancer diagnosis has on labour-force participation among middle-aged and older populations in Japan. We investigate the impact of cancer diagnosis on job cessation and the gap between gender or job types. Methods: We sourced data from a nationwide, annual survey targeted population aged 51–70 featuring the same cohort throughout, and examined respondents' cancer diagnoses and whether they continued to work, while also considering differences between gender (observations: 53 373 for men and 44 027 for women) and occupation type (observations: 64 501 for cognitive worker and 20 921 for manual worker) in this regard. We also examined one-year lag effects, using propensity score matching to control for confounding characteristics. We also implement Logistic regression and derive the odds ratio to evaluate the relative risk of cancer diagnosis, which supplements the main result by propensity score matching. Results: Overall, the diagnosis of cancer has a huge effect on labour-force participation among the population, but this effect varies across subpopulations. Male workers are more likely to quit their job in the year they are diagnosed with cancer (10.1 percentage points), and also in the following year (5.0 percentage points). Contrastingly, female workers are more likely to quit their job immediately after being diagnosed with cancer (18.6 percentage points); however, this effect totally disappears when considering likelihoods for the following year. Cognitive workers are more prone to quit their job in the year of diagnosis by 11.6 percentage points, and this effect remains significant, 3.8 percentage points, in the following year. On the other hand, for manual workers the effect during the year of diagnosis is huge. It amounts to 18.7 percentage points; however, the effect almost disappears in the following year. Conclusion: Our results indicate the huge effect of cancer on job cessation, and that there might be a degree of discrimination in workplaces between gender and job types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humorous joking, teasing, and banter are fundamental forms of social intercourse. This paper is about the role and effect of ‘humour’ in multiethnic blue-collar workplaces. Humour delineates boundaries of group membership, establishes insiders and outsiders, and offers a ritual solution to ambiguity and liminality, tension and social unease. Humour is Janus faced though. Historically, it has been a central tool of the racist; a way of expressing disgust and hatred with an exit strategy: ‘just joking’. This paper draws on these themes to consider findings from a large comparative study of ‘Everyday Multiculturalism at Work’ which compares workplaces in Singapore and Australia. The essay focuses on blue-collar male-dominated Australian workplaces and explores the role and function of interactional humour in mediating, reinforcing, and overcoming boundaries of racial and ethnic difference in a context of forced ‘encounter’. I consider both the positive, ludic qualities of humour as well as its negative dimensions and further situate the discussion in terms of certain forms of Australian working class masculinity. I offer the concept of‘convivial labour’ to describe the work that goes into negotiating interactional humour frames in multi-ethnic settings of forced encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s in Colombia, mainly labour and social security reforms, transformed capital-labour relations and contributed to the erosion of working conditions and health protection at work, with devastating impacts on workers' health. In the context of these dramatic changes, Colombian workers mobilised around collective identities that have shaped new forms of workers' struggle and resistance. Since 2006, associations of workers suffering work-related illnesses have been active in Colombia. The associated workers engaged in collective actions have demanded from employers, the Ministry of Work, occupational risk administrators, disability rating boards and the judicial system the recognition of certain diseases as being of occupational origin and that these entities guarantee corresponding labour, economic and social security rights. This paper describes and analyses the dynamics of the struggle for the right to health at work undertaken by these associations in Colombia, adopting an analytical perspective inspired by collective action theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The nutrition of construction workers is related to their health and safety (H&S) at work. Research on the factors influencing construction workers' food choices and overall nutrition is limited, in South Africa and indeed Africa as a whole. The present paper aims to develop and validate a questionnaire on factors influencing construction workers' food choices. Design: The study adopted a quantitative approach; 42 items, divided into six constructs, were used to develop a field-survey questionnaire after a detailed literature review. Setting: The study was conducted on eight construction sites (consisting of five building construction and three road construction sites), chosen through heterogeneity sampling, in Midrand, Centurion, Johannesburg and Samrand. Subjects: Participants included construction workers actively involved in site activities. Outcome measures: Principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted to examine the structures and validity of the constructs. Cronbach's alpha test and mean inter-item correlations were used to examine internal consistency reliability. Results: After repeated factor analysis, the questionnaire on food-choice factors revealed seven different factors: food context, biological factors, nutritional knowledge, personal ideas and systems, economic factors, resources and cultural background. These factors explained 60.09% variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.62 to 0.85, signifying good internal consistency reliability. Conclusion: The determinants of construction workers' food choices are vital considerations when designing and implementing nutrition interventions in the South African construction industry. Future research can adopt the instrument and developed model when conducting psychometric evaluations of construction workers' food-choice determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For improved prevention of health issues among blue-collar workers, there is a need for an overview of the physical activity at work and leisure using technical long-term measurements in blue-collar sectors investigation of differences between the sectors. Thus, the objective of this paper was to provide an overview and investigate differences in physical activities and body postures at work and leisure among blue-collar sectors. The Dphacto cohort consists of 1087 workers from manufacturing, transportation and cleaning sectors (901 blue-collar and 186 white-collar workers) in Denmark. Eligible workers provided physical activity and heart rate measurements over several days with follow-up on health-related outcomes by self-report and registers. Considerable differences in sitting, standing, time on feet (walking, shuffling and standing combined) and forward bending of the back were found between work and leisure, and between the sectors. This overview of physical activity at work and leisure can be useful for better prevention of work-related health issues among blue-collar workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper reports research exploring how trends in local labour market conditions during the period 2007–2011 (early stages of the 'great recession') relate to reported mental illness for individuals. It contributes to research on spatio-temporal variation in the wider determinants of health, exploring how the lifecourse of places relates to socio-geographical inequalities in health outcomes for individuals. This study also contributes to the renewed research focus on the links between labour market trends and population health, prompted by the recent global economic recession. We report research using the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS), a 5.3% representative sample of the Scottish population, derived from census data (https://sls.lscs.ac.uk/). In Scotland, (2011) census data include self-reported mental health. SLS data were combined with non-disclosive information from other sources, including spatio-temporal trends in labour market conditions (calculated using trajectory modelling) in the 32 local authority areas in Scotland. We show that, for groups of local authorities in Scotland over the period 2007–2011, trends in employment varied. These geographically variable trends in employment rates were associated with inequalities in self-reported mental health across the country, after controlling for a number of other individual and neighbourhood risk factors. For residents of regions that had experienced relatively high and stable levels of employment the odds ratio for reporting a mental illness was significantly lower than for the 'reference group', living in areas with persistently low employment rates. In areas where employment declined markedly from higher levels, the odds ratio was similar to the reference group. The findings emphasise how changes in local economic conditions may influence people's health and wellbeing independently of their own employment status. We conclude that, during the recent recession, the economic life course of places across Scotland has been associated with individual mental health outcomes. Highlights • The Scottish Longitudinal Study was used to study mental illness reported in 2011. • The analysis of individuals controlled for personal and local neighbourhood variables. • Local Authority employment trend 2007–11 was associated with reported mental health. • Economic lifecourses of places relate to inequalities in mental health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the connection between poverty and health (poverty-related diseases: PRDs) by investigating the factors that play a role in how two groups of people in Cameroon cope with health challenges: workers in a large agro-industrial organization (living in 'camps') and students in two major universities (living on 'campuses'). We investigated factors reported in the literature as being associated with coping, summarized under the 'salutogenic umbrella', as well as demographic, social and environmental factors. A total of 509 respondents from camps and campuses participated in this study. We used a combination of standardized and un-standardized survey instruments to measure coping. We used χ 2 and ANOVA tests to investigate bivariate differences and multiple logistic regression analysis to determine which significant survey factors predicted coping. Our results showed expected and unexpected differences between the settings. Individual dispositional factors such as sense of coherence (SOC), self-efficacy (SE), subjective wellbeing and self-rated health differed significantly between the settings. Expected coping resources such as income and SE did not differ between non-copers and copers. Two factors emerged as predictors of coping: living environment (setting) and SOC. Our results highlight the need for a multidimensional perspective on poverty and also the need to apply the salutogenic approach in PRD research. In particular, the emphasis this approach puts on stressors and the capacity to employ a variety of resources to overcome stressors is a fruitful way to better understand PRDs and the importance of location-specific circumstances where poverty, health and diseases are connected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine discourse in public deliberations in pre-development locales in the UK and US about advantages and disadvantages of future shale development ('fracking'). We aimed to understand how people anticipate potential health effects, broadly construed, of environmental toxicity and disturbance in the context of planned, but not yet implemented, energy development. In day-long deliberations with small, diverse groups in two cities in each country (London, Cardiff in the UK; Los Angeles, Santa Barbara in the US), participants discussed impacts on health and well-being using three main rubrics: 'It's money or health', 'Why take chances?' and 'Beyond the tipping point'. Throughout, participants framed health as an intrinsically moral issue, with collective responsibility as a dominant normative frame. We identify the concept of compound risk to underscore effects of multiple risks and hazards on people's sensibilities about anticipated future health and environmental harm. The findings demonstrate how and why diverse publics in pre-impact sites in both countries saw shale extraction as high stakes development that poses significant, often unacceptable, risks to human and environmental health and well-being. Risks extended beyond toxicity to broad threats to health, including, for some, the end of life as we know it on the planet. Overall, participants' discussions of health were more connected to social categories and their underlying moral principles than to technological details. This work contributes evidence of blurred boundaries between environment and health as well as the importance people place on social risks in the context of proposed energy system change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues surrounding migration are receiving unprecedented attention at the global, regional, as well as national levels. However, a review of the literature shows that there is more focus on international migration compared to internal migration. Further, there is more emphasis on issues related to the migration destination rather than those at the source of migration. Using the cultural preparation process model as a framework, this paper aims to understand the career and livelihood planning needs of those who are left behind. The left-behind families of pine resin tappers in the Changar region of the Indian Himalayas are presented as a case study to draw the attention of career guidance and counselling professionals to this unattended population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of this paper were twofold: (a) To provide a population overview of burnout profiles by occupation in a large, health care sector employee population and (b) to investigate how burnout profiles relate to self‐reported health behaviours, chronic conditions, and absenteeism. Burnout profiles were considered by 5 main occupational groups (physicians, nurses, other clinical, administrative, and wage grade [trade, craft, and labor workers]) in survey respondents (n = 86,257 employees). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine how burnout profiles were associated with health controlling for gender, age, race, ethnicity, and occupational group. Employees in the "Frustrated/Burning Up" and "Withdrawing/Burned Out" profiles, respectively, had significantly increased odds of anxiety (OR = 2.17; 99% CI [2.04, 2.31]; OR = 2.21; 99% CI [2.05, 2.38]), depression (OR = 2.06; 99% CI [1.93, 2.20]; OR = 2.20; 99% CI [2.04, 2.38]), sleep disorders (OR = 1.98; 99% CI [1.85, 2.12]; OR = 1.97; 99% CI [1.81, 2.13]), low back disease (OR = 1.60; 99% CI [1.50, 1.71]; OR = 1.58; 99% CI [1.47, 1.70]), physical inactivity (OR = 1.49; 99% CI [1.38, 1.60]; OR = 1.68; 99% CI [1.54, 1.83]), and 5 or more days away from work (OR = 1.74; 99% CI [1.65, 1.85]; OR = 2.15; 99% CI [2.01, 2.30]). Burnout is related to the health of employees. Burnout profiles offer a way to assess patterns of burnout by occupational group and may help customize future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portable chainsaws are associated with substantial risk and can cause serious injury to operators, especially during kickback. This paper presents new results from research and analyses conducted regarding the impact between the different properties of wood on this occurrence. In an open area, such differences may include: wood species, humidity, temperature and the facing angle of the wood fibres in relation to the kerf and shape of the wood surface that comes in contact with the tip of the guide bar. This paper investigates chainsaw kickback including the research results on kickback and wood-cutting energy, saw chain speed and the efficiency of the chainsaw engine. It also presents conclusions drawn from the tests that can be useful for chainsaw users, showing the dependencies between the different properties of wood and the risk of injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more countries entering an era of low fertility, factors that may shape individuals' childbearing desires have been extensively explored. One's intergenerational social mobility experience, however, remains under-discussed. This paper examines this issue against the backdrop of China, in which the total fertility rate has rapidly declined to the lowest-low level in recent decades. Using pooled five-wave data from the Chinese General Social Survey from 2010 to 2017, we found a checkmark-shaped relationship between social class and fertility desire. Chinese farmers have the greatest desired number of children, manual workers have the lowest, and the two upper classes lie in the middle. In general, one's origin class and destination class play a similar role in shaping fertility desire, demonstrating the coexistence of socialization and acculturation processes. The gender-specific examination further suggests that, compared to women, men are more reluctant to change the fertility attitude learned from the origin class. Based on these findings, our study proposes a novel explanation of the decline in fertility desire in China and contributes to the literature on how social mobility experiences and gender ideology jointly construct fertility desire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question of whether adopting safety culture improves hazard prevention in enterprises characterized by high primary risk. To answer this question, sample underground coal mines were examined to investigate the basic elements of the safety culture of employees. This paper presents the results of a diagnosis of the basic elements of the safety culture of supervisors (midlevel managers) and blue-collar workers in 3 underground coal mines. The study used 2 techniques: a Likert-type scale and a questionnaire. The results indicate the need to introduce changes in the safety culture of underground coal mine employees. This study also presents the conditions for improvement. Special attention was paid to (a) the conditions for improving safety culture and (b) a programme for modifying risky behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The transition from work to retirement is a complex process and unique experience with a relationship existing between work and retirement with implications for health in later life. This review explored the relationship between pre‐retirement job and participation in the work‐to‐retirement transition process in Australia by exploring: (i) factors influencing retirement in relation to pre‐retirement job; (ii) how jobs are classified; (iii) the effect of pre‐retirement job (based on categories) on this occupational transition; and (iv) the potential role for occupational therapy in this occupational transition. Method: An integrative literature review was completed. PRISMA guidelines were used. Study designs were analysed for methodological quality using the National Health and Medical Research Council levels of evidence. Thematic analysis determined retirement factors which were used to compare differences between jobs. Results: This review included 15 papers. There were two Level III‐2, one Level III‐3 and 13 Level IV studies. Factors influencing retirement related to the stages of work, preparation, transition and retired. White collar and blue collar was the most common job classification system. Although white collar and blue collar worker definitions utilised were inconsistent, differences between the two groups were still determined in all stages. Conclusion: Differences in the work‐to‐retirement transition process, based on pre‐retirement job, are evident. Understanding differences by job groupings may assist occupational therapists to understand individualised needs during this occupational transition and subsequent tailoring of interventions (both individual and group based) to enable engagement in meaningful occupation in the work‐to‐retirement occupational transition to effect active healthy ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There is little information on how work tasks, demands, and exposures differ between women and men in nominally the same job. This is critical in setting workplace standards that will protect the health of both men and those women moving into less traditional work roles. Information used in setting standards is currently based almost entirely on male workers. This paper describes differences in work and health, and the relation between them, in women and men who have undergone the same trade training for the welding or electrical trades. Method: Four cohorts were established. Two were women across Canada in the welding and electrical trades who had been in an apprenticeship since 2005. Cohorts of men in the same trades during the same period were established in the province of Alberta, Canada. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire at recruitment and were followed up every 6 months to collect detailed information on work carried out and on their health and habits. At the end of the study (up to 5 years for women and up to 3 years for men), the cohort members completed a final questionnaire including questions on mental health, harassment, and gender. Results: The four cohorts comprised 1001 welders (447 female; 554 male) and 885 in the electrical trades (438 female; 447 male). Follow-up information was available for 89%. Women were more likely than men to have had some post-secondary education before starting their trade and were less likely to be living as married or to have a child. More welders smoked, and more men were heavy drinkers. At recruitment, more welders than those in the electrical trades reported rhinitis (sneezing and runny nose), depression, and anxiety. Female welders reported more depression (38%) than male welders (30%), compared to 24% in the electrical trades. At first follow-up, new-onset shoulder pain was more frequent in men and new-onset asthma or wheezing in welders. Within each trade, women reported less variety in tasks. Women welders were less likely to be employed in construction than men, and women were less likely to become industrial electricians. Overall, 54% of women and 46% of men reported never using respiratory protection when welding. In the end-of-study questionnaires received to date, 49% reported bullying or harassment during the apprenticeship, with higher proportions in welding than electrical trades and in women compared with men. Such harassment was reflected in higher anxiety and depression scores. Conclusions: This is the first report on these four cohorts and demonstrates the capacity for detailed analysis of the differences in exposure and new-onset occupationally related ill-health. While women and men in the same trades appear to be doing broadly similar work, and to have similar patterns on health at the first follow-up, there are some significant differences in the types of employment and variety of tasks. The very detailed information collected will allow more precise estimates of exposures to be correlated with health outcomes at the end of the follow-up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physically demanding work carried out during long workdays affects women's health. In rural and agrarian societies, women perform a variety of domestic and productive tasks, often from dawn to dusk, with little or no leisure time. This paper presents the results of a survey of indigenous women in six rural communities in the Ecuadorian highlands. It was conducted to measure the amount of time women spend on physically demanding work in the context of food security, parity outcomes, and access to prenatal health care. The findings demonstrate that these women work very long workdays and also experience food insecurity and poor access to prenatal health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professional work of small animal veterinary staff encompasses a wide diversity of demanding tasks. This has prompted a number of studies covering physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, or psychological hazards, as well as their health effects upon veterinary workers. However, such results were obtained from self-reported surveys (via paper or online). This study reports the identification of potential hazards and provides a risk assessment of 15 veterinary clinics based on data from walk-through surveys, interviews with workers, and quantification of indoor air quality parameters including concentration of volatile organic compounds (total, isoflurane, and glutaraldehyde). The risk arising from X-ray exposure was unacceptable in seven clinics; X-ray examination should be discontinued in the absence of isolated radiation rooms, poor safety practices, and lack of personal protective equipment. Ergonomic-related hazards and work practices should be revised as soon as possible, considering that improper postures, as well as moving and lifting heavy animals are major causes of musculoskeletal disorders. The risk levels were, in general, small or medium (acceptable) with regard to exposure to physical hazards (such as bites, scratches, cuts, and burns) and biological hazards. It was observed that the indoor air quality parameters including temperature, respirable particulate matter and total volatile organic compounds do not indicate a comfortable workplace environment, requiring clinics' attention to keep the safe environment. The veterinarians and nurses were exposed to isoflurane (above 2 ppm) during surgery if an extractor system for waste gas was used instead of a scavenging system. Finally, veterinary workers did not possess any type of training on occupational safety and health issues, even though they recognized its importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a systematic review of randomised studies on the impact of worksite interventions to promote healthier food and/or physical activity among people who work irregular hours 'around the clock', that is, outside of ordinary daytime working hours. The population--intervention--comparator--outcomes--study (PICOS) design format was used. Data sources were PubMed and CINAHL. An updated search was conducted on October 2017 using Google Scholar and the related articles function in PubMed on initially included studies to identify additional studies. Risk of bias was used to assess study quality. A total of seven studies (reports published in 14 papers) were included in the systematic review: Two interventions with a broader lifestyle approach, three focusing on physical exercise and two on providing healthier food or meal options. The studies had sample sizes from 30 to 1,000 and targeted a mixture of occupations, including both male- and female-dominated occupational groups. The interventions lasted from 2 to 12 months. Only one had an extended follow-up. In general, the studies showed small-to-moderate effect sizes on several measures, including dietary and/or physical activity measures, suggesting acceptable effectiveness for interventions involving community-level behaviour change. Our findings highlight a need to further develop and implement well-designed health promotion interventions with comparable outcome measures and effect size reports. A mixture of health promotion strategies is recommended for future practice in this target population, including individually tailored programmes, improving the food and physical activity environment and using broader lifestyle approaches including the use of participatory and empowerment strategies. While more research is needed in this field, the existing knowledge base on effective approaches awaits translation into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Information dealing with social and behavioural risk factors as well as their mechanisms among Mozambican migrants working in South African mines remains undocumented. This study aims to understand the various factors influencing HIV-related risk behaviours and the resulting HIV positive status of Mozambican miners employed by South African mines. This analysis was undertaken in order to inform a broader and more effective HIV preventive framework in Mozambique. Method: This study relied upon data sourced from the first Integrated Biological and Behavioural Survey among Mozambican miners earning their living in South African mines. It employs quantitative techniques using standard statistical tools to substantiate the laid-down objectives. The primary technique applied in this paper is the multivariable statistical method used in the formulation and application of a proximate determinants framework. Results: The odds of reporting one sexual partner were roughly three times higher for miners working as perforators as opposed to other types of occupation. As well, the odds of condom use - always or sometimes - for miners in the 31-40 age group were three times higher than the odds of condom use in the 51+ age group. Miners with lower education levels were less likely to use condoms. The odds of being HIV positive when the miner reports use of alcohol or drugs (sometimes/always) is 0.32 times lower than the odds for those reporting never use of alcohol or drugs. And finally, the odds of HIV positive status for those using condoms were 2.16 times that of miners who never used condoms, controlling for biological and other proximate determinants. Conclusion: In Mozambique, behavioural theory emphasising personal behavioural changes is the main strategy to combat HIV among miners. Our findings suggest there is a need to change thinking processes about how to influence safer sexual behaviour. This is viewed to be the result of a person's individual decision, due to of the complexity of social and contextual factors that may also influence sexual behaviours. This only stresses the need for HIV prevention strategies to exclusively transcend individual factors while considering the broader social and contextual phenomena influencing HIV risk among Mozambican miners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an account of a small scale exploratory study about the use and value of football metaphor as a device for facilitating therapeutic work. It is based on an evaluation which used a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches. In this paper, we selectively draw on the qualitative data to provide examples to inform our discussion. We illustrate various ways in which football metaphor can support therapeutic change: by aiding initial engagement, facilitating mutual support, enabling self-understanding and motivating change. We relate our analysis to the literature about the therapeutic value of metaphor and highlight the salience of using football metaphor in a group-based setting for men who are often seen as ‘hard to engage’ in therapeutic support. With some caveats, we argue that football metaphor offers a potentially rich and flexible therapeutic resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the significance of the Botswana High Court and Court of Appeal judgments of a case in which the Manual Worker Union, a blue-collar public sector union, challenged the Botswana Government to reinstate dismissed workers with all their past benefits. I examine the role of public ethics and morality in Botswana as reflected in key notions used by High Court judges, such as “the duty to act fairly” and “legitimate expectations,” and argue that legal anthropologists have neglected such ideas, despite their having become a bedrock of contemporary judicial reasoning. While anthropology has shown a renewed interest in ethics, issues of public ethics and morality remain relatively unexplored in contemporary legal anthropological debates. One has to go back to the work of Max Gluckman on reasonableness in judicial decision-making among the Barotse to find foundational anthropological insights into the morality and ethics of law in non-Western societies. In the legally plural context of Botswana, notions of equity and fairness, this paper argues, “permeate” the legal landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the wage difference between overeducated and adequately educated workers in a sample of semi-skilled and low-skill occupations in Iran’s labor market. The objective is to see if overeducated employees in these occupations enjoy higher wages in comparison to their adequately educated co-workers.Design/methodology/approach The authors use the propensity score matching (PSM) model to estimate the wage difference between overeducated and adequately educated workers in a sample of semi-skilled and low-skill occupations in Iran’s labor market. The PSM method allows the authors to prevent selection bias by comparing each group of overeducated workers with a matched group of adequately educated workers with similar socio-economic characteristics.Findings The results show that in Iran’s labor market, the overeducated workers enjoy a wage premium in the range of 10-25 percent for their excess education when they have to work in semi- or low-skill occupations. While this relative advantage has gradually declined for private sector employees over the period 2001-2013, it has remained stable for public sector jobs. The result is attributable to the fact that salary and benefits for public sector employees are directly linked to education attainment and their work experience. The findings show that the relative wage advantage of overeducation is larger for the younger employees with ten or fewer years of experience who have more education than older workers. Overall these findings offer an explanation for the strong desire of Iranian youth for university education. If a university graduate finds a job that matches her/his specialization she/he will enjoy a higher salary than a high school graduate. If she/he has to accept a semi-skilled or low-skill job for which she/he is overeducated, she/he still enjoys a wage premium over her/his co-workers who are not overeducated.Originality/value The analysis makes three unique contributions: first, the authors use a unique and detailed micro-data for an economy (Iran) in which the public sector dominates the private sector. The authors investigate the hypothesis for private and public sectors separately. Second, the authors divide the sample of workers into market newcomers and experienced workers. The authors analyze the impact of overeducations on each group separately. Third, the authors use the treatment effect of being overeducated on the individual’s monthly wage by the PSM. The advantage of the PSM method is that it eliminates the selection bias in the wage effect of overeducation, whereas the traditional regression-based techniques may result in this type of bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an ethnographic study of mass fainting among garment factory workers in Cambodia. Research was undertaken in 2010-2015 in 48 factories in Phnom Penh and 8 provinces. Data were collected in Khmer using nonprobability sampling. In participant observation with monks, factory managers, health workers, and affected women, cultural understandings were explored. One or more episodes of mass fainting occurred at 34 factories, of which 9 were triggered by spirit possession. Informants viewed the causes in the domains of ill-health/toxins and supernatural activities. These included "haunting" ghosts at factory sites in the wake of Khmer Rouge atrocities or recent fatal accidents and retaliating guardian spirits at sites violated by foreign owners. Prefigurative dreams, industrial accidents, or possession of a coworker heralded the episodes. Workers witnessing a coworker fainting felt afraid and fainted. When taken to clinics, some showed signs of continued spirit influence. Afterwards, monks performed ritual ceremonies to appease spirits, extinguish bonds with ghosts, and prevent recurrence. Decoded through its cultural motifs of fear and protest, contagion, forebodings, the bloody Khmer Rouge legacy, and trespass, mass fainting in Cambodia becomes less enigmatic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]