CXLD: "Dirty, Dangerous, Demanding": Case studies of worker illness and injury in the Global South

Session Description: Among most OEM practitioners in the U.S., issues impacting the health and safety of workers in the Global South are typically overlooked. This session includes three case studies of critical occupational safety and health issues affecting workers in several Global South regions, which serve as microcosms of the broader reality of work, and more broadly well-being, for hundreds of millions of persons in these and similar regions globally. The session will attempt to highlight the common, and fundamental, upstream determinants of worker health shared in common among these seemingly disparate industries and occupations.

Educational Gaps: Most OEM clinicians do not receive formal training in, nor have much post-training exposure to, critical issues affecting worker health and safety in the Global South nor to the underlying political, economic, and social determinants of occupational safety and health in underserved worker populations more broadly. This session will aim to enhance understanding of how these two themes are connected.

Is this session being sponsored by an ACOEM Section or Component?: Section on Underserved Occupational Populations
Section on Global Health

Has this session previously been presented?: No

The AOHC 2026 theme is Healthy workers. Healthy world: This session's goal is to highlight fundamental inequalities in worker health and safety across different geographical regions and social classes within those regions, in order to motivate practitioners to demand equal protections and the right to healthy and fulfilling work for all workers.