Essential Workers, Co-morbidities and Covid-19 Risk

The provision of healthy working conditions to all workers is critical to ensure their mental and physical health as well as their rapid recovery after COVID-19. In an article under review at an occupational health academic journal, our HWC team led by Dr. Pouran Faghri outlines how exposure to unhealthy work stressors leads to co-morbidities, such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and obesity, that increase the severity and complications of those exposed to COVID-19. By many counts, over 90% of those who have died from COVID-19 had underlying health conditions. Unhealthy work increases stress, which is known to contribute to immune system dysfunction. Stressful work during COVID-19 could also increase workers’ susceptibility to severe infection due to a weakened immune system.

Identifying and understanding the processes by which working conditions can increase stress, which in turn contributes to co-morbid conditions and immune system dysfunction is at the heart of the Healthy Work Campaign’s efforts. Our goal at the Healthy Work Campaign is to educate all of us about the importance of improving job quality and reducing work stressors. We hope to see this journal article in print early in the new year and will make sure to get it out to all of our supporters.