NIOSH to Assess Well-Being of LGBTQIA+ Workforce
A new project proposed by NIOSH would collect information about the health and well-being of workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or another sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQIA+). The agency intends to use its findings to characterize this workforce and their health experiences. NIOSH also aims to identify factors that may be associated with sexual and gender minority persons’ work-related health outcomes.
“Persons who are [LGBTQIA+] … comprise a notable and rapidly growing percentage of the U.S. working population,” the Federal Register notice outlining the proposed project explains. “Yet they are often overlooked in terms of health research and policies offering health assurances and safety protections at work.”
NIOSH’s proposal would enable the Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study—a collaborative effort by the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University—to use a modified version of the agency’s Worker Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ) to collect work and health experience information specific to sexual and gender minority workers from the study’s ongoing participant cohort. According to the Federal Register, the PRIDE Study is the first national, longitudinal cohort study to examine how being LGBTQIA+ influences health.
NIOSH’s WellBQ is a tool intended to assess the well-being of workers in several areas, including quality of working life, circumstances outside of work, and physical and mental health status. A presenter from the agency previously introduced the tool to attendees of AIHce EXP 2022.
Comments on the proposed project will be accepted through July 8. Learn more about NIOSH’s proposal and see instructions for submitting comments in the Federal Register.
Related: The cover feature of the April 2023 Synergist describes perspectives on being LGBTQ+ in the OEHS profession, and a SynergistNOW blog post from October 2022 introduces PR(IH)DE, AIHA’s LGBTQ+ Special Interest Group.