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Workers who become ill or injured on the job while undertaking extraordinary risks on behalf of the public are, at times, granted facilitated access to workers' compensation (WC) benefits through the application of presumptions in the compensation process. Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, a broad range of occupational groups faced an elevated risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) exposure at work to perform vital services to maintain our food supply, sustain needed transportation, provide health care, assure energy supply and others. Some states or jurisdictions in the United States recognized both the risk and the service of these workers by enacting COVID‐19 presumption laws to streamline selected essential workers' eligibility for WC benefits. Other states did not. Results of these contrasting public approaches permit an examination of the impact of presumptions in compensation by examining the frequency and outcomes of COVID‐19 claims in "COVID‐19 presumption" and "nonpresumption" states. Despite state‐level variations in economic response to the pandemic, industry mix, and presumption eligibility criteria, the use of COVID‐19 presumptions appears to have substantially increased claim filing rates and improved access to benefits. Lastly, the additional costs of COVID‐19 claims to employers and insurers were lower than initially predicted. In response to future airborne infectious disease outbreaks, workers' compensation presumption laws should be universally implemented to permit a broad range of high‐risk workers to work on the public's behalf without fear of losing wages and incurring medical expenses associated with a work‐related viral exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Fragmented industry and occupation surveillance data throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic has left public health practitioners and organizations with an insufficient understanding of high‐risk worker groups and the role of work in SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. Methods: We drew sequential probability samples of noninstitutionalized adults (18+) in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System with COVID‐19 onset before November 16, 2020 (N = 237,468). Among the 6000 selected, 1839 completed a survey between June 23, 2020, and April 23, 2021. We compared in‐person work status, source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure, and availability of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) by industry and occupation using weighted descriptive statistics and Rao‐Scott χ2 tests. We identified industries with a disproportionate share of COVID‐19 infections by comparing our sample with the total share of employment by industry in Michigan using 2020 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Results: Employed respondents (n = 1244) were predominantly female (53.1%), aged 44 and under (54.4%), and non‐Hispanic White (64.0%). 30.4% of all employed respondents reported work as the source of their SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure and 78.8% were in‐person workers. Work‐related exposure was prevalent in Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (65.2%); Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (63.3%); and Food Manufacturing (57.5%). By occupation, work‐related exposure was highest among Protective Services (57.9%), Healthcare Support (56.5%), and Healthcare Practitioners (51.9%). Food Manufacturing; Nursing and Residential Care; and Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities were most likely to report having adequate PPE "never" or "rarely" (36.4%, 27.9%, and 26.7%, respectively). Conclusions: Workplaces were a key source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure among employed Michigan residents during the first year of the pandemic. To prevent transmission, there is an urgent need in public health surveillance for the collection of industry and occupation data of people infected with COVID‐19, as well as for future airborne infectious diseases for which we have little understanding of risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Informal sector electronic waste (e‐waste) recovery produces toxic emissions resulting from burning e‐waste to recover valuable metals. Objectives: To identify high‐risk worker groups by measuring relative levels of personal inhalation exposure to particulate matter (PM) of fine (≤2.5 µm) and coarse (2.5–10 µm) fractions (PM2.5 and PM2.5–10, respectively) across work activities among e‐waste workers, and to assess how wind conditions modify levels of PM by activity and site location. Methods: At the Agbogbloshie e‐waste site, 170 partial‐shift PM samples and time‐activity data were collected from participants (N = 105) enrolled in the GeoHealth cohort study. Personal sampling included continuous measures of size‐specific PM from the worker's breathing zone and time–activity derived from wearable cameras. Linear mixed models were used to estimate changes in personal PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 associated with activities and evaluate effect modification by wind conditions. Results: Mean (±standard deviation) personal PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 concentrations were 80 (± 81) and 123 (± 139) µg m−3, respectively. The adjusted mean PM2.5 concentration for burning e‐waste was 88 µg m−3, a 28% increase above concentrations during non‐recovery activities (such as eating). Transportation‐related and burning activities were associated with the highest PM2.5–10 concentrations. Frequent changes in wind direction were associated with higher PM2.5 concentrations when burning, and high wind speeds with higher PM2.5–10 concentrations when dismantling e‐waste downwind of the burning zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A cohort study found that 9/11-related environmental exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder increased self-reported cardiovascular disease risk. We attempted to replicate these findings using objectively defined cardiovascular disease hospitalizations in the same cohort., Methods and Results: Data for adult World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees residing in New York State on enrollment and no cardiovascular disease history (n = 46,346) were linked to a New York State hospital discharge-reporting system. Follow-up began at Registry enrollment (2003-2004) and ended at the first cerebrovascular or heart disease (HD) hospitalization, death, or December 31, 2010, whichever was earliest. We used proportional hazards models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) for HD (n = 1151) and cerebrovascular disease (n = 284) hospitalization during 302,742 person-years of observation (mean follow-up, 6.5 years per person), accounting for other factors including age, race/ethnicity, smoking, and diabetes. An elevated risk of HD hospitalization was observed among women (AHR 1.32, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.71) but not men (AHR 1.16, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.40) with posttraumatic stress disorder at enrollment. A high overall level of World Trade Center rescue and recovery-related exposure was associated with an elevated HD hospitalization risk in men (AHR 1.82, 95% CI 1.06 to 3.13; P for trend = 0.05), but findings in women were inconclusive (AHR 3.29, 95% CI 0.85 to 12.69; P for trend = 0.09). Similar associations were observed specifically with coronary artery disease hospitalization. Posttraumatic stress disorder increased the cerebrovascular disease hospitalization risk in men but not in women., Conclusions: 9/11-related exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder appeared to increase the risk of subsequent hospitalization for HD and cerebrovascular disease. This is consistent with findings based on self-reported outcomes.