UMass Lowell Hosts Conference on Immigrant Worker Safety

LOWELL - The University of Massachusetts Lowell and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) next week will co-sponsor a two-day symposium, "Improving Immigrant Worker Safety and Health."

The sessions will run Tuesday, Sept. 28 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wannalancit Mills Conference Room, 600 Suffolk St.

More than 150 people are expected to attend the conference - organized by UMass Lowell Work Environment Prof. Carlos Eduardo Siqueira - to exchange information and develop recommendations for public health research and intervention to improve the workplace safety and health conditions for immigrant workers. Speakers and session leaders include representatives from NIOSH, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control.  Representatives of labor unions, immigrant advocacy groups and industry also will lead sessions.

Presentations at the conference will include:

·        Statistics on occupational injuries and fatalities of immigrant workers

·        Community-based, union, workplace and government policy interventions

·        Background on the social, political and economic context of immigrant workers in the United States

UMass Lowell, a comprehensive university with special expertise in applied science and technology, is committed to educating students for lifelong success and conducting research and outreach activities that sustain the economic, environmental, and social health of the region. Lowell offers its 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students more than 80 degree programs in the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Management, and the School of Health and Environment and the Graduate School of Education.