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May 18, Southern California Local Organizing Committee Meeting Minutes

APA-NIOSH Work Stress and Health Conference, Los Angeles 2013 

Local Organizing Committee 

May 18 Los Angeles – Minutes 

Participating: Peter Schnall, Marnie Dobson, Paul Landsbergis, Cass Ben-Levi, Vivian Rothstein, BongKyoo Choi, Javier Garcia, HyoungRyoul Kim, Rev. Art Cribbs, Paul Papanek, Warner Hudson, Shane Que Hee, Dean Baker, Haiou Yang, Linda Delp, Isabel Garcia

Peter Schnall

– Introduction to the APA/NIOSH conference, background to the conference, audience and purpose of the Local Organizing Committee:

– APA-NIOSH conference organizers have agreed to allow us to organize 4 panels (must be reviewed through scientific review process)

– Encourage networking in California, prioritize occupational health issues in California – possibly work towards a position paper for California OH

– June 8 planning meeting in Northern California

Introductions:

Marnie Dobson, UCI COEH

Shane Que Hee: Director of Industrial Hygiene program of SC ERC.

Vivian Rothstein: Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy – providing a voice for low wage workers, living wage campaigns. Hotel workers blood pressure screenings with Peter Schnall. Port truckers (independent contractors), 10,000 in Long Beach. Women workers in waste and recycling centers (no health standards). Possibility of organizing a field trip to these a waste recycling site.

Cass Ben-Levi: Director of Continuing Education and outreach for SC ERC. OM, OHN, safety and outreach grants for OHS training with (hotel workers, janitors, gardeners, farm workers)

Warner Hudson: AECOM President, LOC for AOHC conference, salutogenic effects of work – healthy workplaces, fatigue and sleep

Paul Landsbergis: Professor Downstate University, NY – Transportation Learning Center – interested in bus driver OH-HP, LRAN conf (port truckers, COSH, OHIP, waste & recycling workers)

Paul Papanek: Kaiser Occupational Medicine, CalOSHA (recently) – Policy (particularly worker health and safety with the Affordable Care Act, health insurance (how to prioritize prevention), WOMA and networking with other medical societies

BongKyoo Choi: Assist Prof, COEH, UC Irvine –  FORWARD study (firefighter obesity), truck or taxi drivers, Asian immigrant communities, California Health Interview Survey (few work questions)

Isabel Garcia: UCLA School of Public Health, doctoral student, dissertation: 2000 Mexican workers CV health

Linda Delp: Director, UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH), Chair-elect APHA OSH section, home care workers research, focus on low wage, immigrant, contingent workers, warehouse workers (Inland Empire), car wash, hotel workers, heat illness

HyoungRyoul Kim: Visiting Professor, UCI  COEH (from Seoul, Korea). Build relationships with progressive California researchers, organizer for ICOH in Seoul, 2015

Javier Garcia: UCI COEH, organizational psychologist, Latin American network

Haiou Yang: UCI COEH, network with Chinese scholars for APA-NIOSH conference, translating conference call for proposals into Chinese, Vietnamese community outreach in OC.

Rev. Art Cribbs: CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice) – local organization works with labor

Discussion on issues to focus on for panels (condensed into four main areas):

  1. Impact of the economy on CA workers– how globalization affects workers/cross-country comparisons (with India, China (e.g. FoxConn) vs. CA workers: unemployment, increase in contingent work, work intensification (impact on surviving workers), increase in workplace violence, impact on public sector (budget cuts) lag behind private sector, impact on vulnerable workers (immigrant workers, contingent workers), major resource cuts, what is the future of OH in CA because of lack of resources…
    1. High risk (vulnerable working populations in Southern CA linked with local labor organizations/union campaigns, to highlight) – transportation workers (port truckers, San Pedro, CA), waste recycling workers in Los Angeles, home care/domestic workers (CA bill of rights), car wash workers, janitors.
  1. Total Worker Health in CA – how jobs/workplaces can promote health (examples of healthy work, salutogenic effects), are there successful examples of integrated workplace health protection and promotion in CA, critiques, employer-based health care – incentivizing health promotion (Section 1201 of Affordable Care Act – 20-30% of premiums back to employees to participate in “reasonably designed” workplace wellness programs), recent OSHA study shows safety inspections help productivity
  1. Changing nature of work, definitions of work (might be linked with 1) – no permanent jobs, re-training across the life course (decreasing stability of jobs/insecurity), technology is erasing boundaries between work and life (robotics/automation, remote work, monitoring of performance), effects of an international economy (immigrant workers, outsourcing).
  1. Role of Public Policy and Advocacy in CA Occupational Health – failure of the safety net for some workers already covered, but workers “off-the-grid” trying to get into the “safety net” at the same time it is failing (e.g. informal sector workers – janitors, car wash workers, gardeners, domestic workers), examples of countries that have better “safety nets”/labor standards (Scandinavian countries, Europe, Pacific Rim – are these better models), what government regulation is in place that could be leveraged to improve WHS in CA (e.g. Affordable Care Act, insurer/employee incentive programs, enforcement of existing OHS standards.

Panel formats – could include 1) California case examples (local), 2) Links beyond California (US/International examples), 3) advocacy/policy – government representatives, 4) future steps for CA (resources needed/policy needed)

Continuing Education Credits

– Peter to contact Gwen Keita (APA) about structure for the conference, other contacts:

  • Cass Ben-Levi (So Cal ERC continuing education director)
  • Warner Hudson ACOEM

–  CME requires educational objectives for each panel, identify practice gaps etc.

Networking – Who else to get involved?

WOMA – Paul Papanek/Leslie Israel

ACOEM –Warner Hudson

Other large medical associations – AHA-CA, AIHA (Peter), ASSE

Labor union representation – Andrea Nichols (LA County Fed Labor), Cindy Chavez (San Jose Labor Council)

Occupational Nurses: Beth Thomas

Insurers – Kaiser (Paul Papanek à Frank Meca (Kaiser), Kaiser Labor-Management Partnership (Maggie Robbins)

HR/Employers – Pam Hymel (HR Disney), employers with integrated health promotion/protection programs in CA?

Latin American Network – Isabel Garcia, Javier Garcia

Chinese scholars – Haiou Yang

Korean scholars – BongKyoo Choi, Dr. Kim

 

Next SoCAL meeting –à July 10th, 10-12 noon, UCLA.

October 1 deadline for conference panels.

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