FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WORK-RELATED ACCIDENTS AND SICKNESS AMONG MAQUILADORA WORKERS - THE CASE OF NOGALES, SONORA, MEXICO

The health problems of maquiladora workers were explored in a sample o f 497 workers of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire containing four sections: a sociodem ographic profile, occupational history, working conditions, and a heal th profile. Overall, 12.6 percent of the workers reported having an ac cident while working in the maquila, more than 40 percent of these req uiring at least one day of disability, and 18.3 percent of workers rep orted having an episode of sickness/disease. More than 60 percent perc eived health-related risks associated with working conditions. The pre sence of a doctor or nurse in the plant (odds ratio = 0.30), a percept ion of risk associated with working conditions (odds ratio = 1.85), an d the plant offering information about work-related risks (odds ratio = 0.39) were among the significant predictors of work-related accident s and disease/sickness. The authors discuss the implications of these results for programs and policies to improve safety conditions in the maquiladora industry.