Characteristics that influence occupational health and safety knowledge among Arab American workers

The purpose of this study is to examine potential determinants of occupational health and safety knowledge in an Arab-American population. Three hundred unemployed Arab men and women were tested on their knowledge of occupational health and safety by a written test. We evaluated differences in mean raw test scores for age, education, language skill [English only Arabic only, or bilingual], and place of birth, ever having been employed in the U.S. and prior OHS training. Overall scores were quite low [mean = 24% correct]. There were significant differences in mean scores by age, educational level and prior OHS training in men and women. Scores were lower in men who only spoke Arabic, were born in an Arab country and had never worked in the U.S. compared to women whose scores did not seem to be affected by language, birthplace or employment status. Arab Americans job seekers are an understudied immigrant population with low levels of occupational health and safety knowledge. Whereas no knowledge or limited knowledge of English as well as educational level may contribute to lack of OHS knowledge, these are only partially explanatory. More research is needed to more fully understand the determinants of knowledge acquisition, retention, attitudes and skills among Arab Americans