Due to the continuous rise of global temperatures and heatwaves worldwide as a result of climate change, concerns for the health and safety of working populations have increased. Workers in the food production chain, particularly farmworkers, are especially vulnerable to heat stress due to the strenuous nature of their work, which is performed primarily outdoors under poor working conditions. At the cross-section of climate change and farmworkers' health, a scoping review was undertaken to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the health impacts associated with climate change and heat stress, guide future research toward better understanding current and future climate change risks, and inform policies to protect the health and safety of agricultural workers. A systematic search of 5 electronic databases and gray literature websites was conducted to identify relevant literature published up until December 2021. A total of 9045 records were retrieved from the searches, of which 92 articles were included in the final review. The majority of the reviewed articles focused on heat-related illnesses (n = 57) and kidney diseases (n = 28). The risk factors identified in the reviewed studies included gender, dehydration, heat strain, wearing inappropriate clothing, workload, piece-rate payment, job decision latitude, and hot environmental conditions. On the other hand, various protective and preventive factors were identified including drinking water, changing work hours and schedule of activities, wearing appropriate clothing, reducing soda consumption, taking breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, and increasing electrolyte consumption in addition to improving access to medical care. This review also identified various factors that are unique to vulnerable agricultural populations, including migrant and child farmworkers. Our findings call for an urgent need to expand future research on vulnerable agricultural communities including migrant workers so as to develop effective policies and interventions that can protect these communities from the effects of heat stress.

This study explores the relationship between housework and musculoskeletal symptoms among homemakers, adjusting for social, demographic and economic factors. A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 435 women from Nabaa, a low-income community in Lebanon. In total, 77% of women reported having musculoskeletal pain in the previous 12 months. Both psychosocial and physical factors showed significant associations with musculoskeletal symptoms. Related psychosocial factors included feelings of stress associated with homemaking and homemakers' number of children and self-rated health. The physical factors associated with musculoskeletal pain were feeling fatigued at the end of a housework day, working long hours and working in awkward postures or frequently engaging in repetitive hand movements. Ergonomic stressors were also associated with pain in the back and upper and lower extremities. Women from this community engage in a large number of hours of housework that, alongside other factors, were associated with high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. Practitioner Summary: This study contributes to the literature by studying women's housework activities in association with musculoskeletal pain. The role of women in homemaking activities is explored together with physical exposures leading to reported symptoms. This study adds a perspective of a Middle Eastern context to the literature of women's musculoskeletal health.

Lebanon is in the midst of a rapidly escalating, unprecedented humanitarian crisis that is plunging the country deep into poverty and threatens population well-being, economic development, social welfare and national and regional stability. The dire situation is due to the compounding effects of the August 2020 Beirut blast, massive economic collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic, in a setting of longstanding entrenched political corruption and a dysfunctional, mismanaged crisis response by the state. This current emergency occurs on the background of a turbulent history and complex regional geopolitical context – including the Syrian refugee crisis, the ongoing influence of foreign actors and their local proxies, the United-States-imposed sanctions, endemic corruption, a culture of nepotism and entitlement among the political dynasties, dysfunctional power-sharing and deep-seated sectarian divides. With over half the population now living in poverty, a generation of children are among those at risk. This Perspective provides a brief overview of Lebanon's current complex humanitarian crisis, discusses the impacts of the evolving situation on youth and proposes a suite of recommendations to mitigate the effects.

Background The protracted Syrian war resulted in the largest refugee crisis of our time. The most vulnerable are children who face separation from parents, interruption of schooling and child labour. This study explores the living and working conditions of Syrian children in Lebanon. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we randomly selected 153 informal tented settlements and conducted interviewer-administered surveys among Syrian refugee working children in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Those aged 8–18 completed a questionnaire on sociodemographic and occupational characteristics; those aged 4–8 years were surveyed through a household questionnaire. Results We surveyed 1902 households, including 12 708 individuals and 4377 working children. Female-headed households were poorer and more food-insecure than male-headed households. Among working children (4–18 years), the average age of starting work was 10.9 years and 74.8% worked in agriculture. Compared with boys, girls earned less and were less likely to be enrolled in school. For 96.3% of working children aged 8–18 years, forced exodus to Lebanon was associated with a first child labour experience. Working conditions were harsh and worse for girls who compared to boys were less likely to receive their salary on time and take time off work. Girls worked longer in the sun and cold and were more likely to report having a health symptom at work, working under pressure and using sharp or heavy objects at work. Seventy-nine children reported knowing another child who died following a work accident. Conclusion Children, as young as 4, are forced to work, and many are compelled to forgo educational opportunities in favour of harsh and harmful labour due to difficult economic conditions. State policies facilitating access to work for adult refugees will help families meet basic needs and decrease their dependence on child labour as a coping strategy.

Background: Farmwork is one of the most hazardous occupations for men and women. Research suggests sex/gender shapes hazardous workplace exposures and outcomes for farmworkers. This paper reviews the occupational health literature on farmworkers, assessing how gender is treated and interpreted in exposure‐outcome studies.Methods: The paper evaluates peer‐reviewed articles on men and women farmworkers' health published between 2000 and 2012 in PubMed or SCOPUS. Articles were identified and analyzed for approaches toward sampling, data analysis, and use of exposure indicators in relation to sex/gender.Results: 18% of articles reported on and interpreted sex/gender differences in health outcomes and exposures. Sex/gender dynamics often shaped health outcomes, yet adequate data was not collected on established sex/gender risk factors relating to study outcomes.Conclusion: Research can better incorporate sex/gender analysis into design, analytical and interpretive approaches to better explore its mediation of health outcomes in light of emerging calls to mainstream gender research. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1344–1367, 2014. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial‐NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Since 2011, the protracted Syrian war has had tragic consequences on the lives of the Syrian people, threatening their stability, health, and well-being. The most vulnerable are children, who face interruption of schooling and child labor. This study explored the relationship between social capital and the physical health and emotional well-being of Syrian refugee working children in rural areas of Lebanon. In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed 4,090 Syrian refugee children working in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon in 2017. Children (8–18 years) gave direct testimony on their living and social environment in face-to-face interviews. Logistic regressions assessed the association of social capital and social cohesion with the health and emotional well-being of Syrian refugee working children; specifically, poor self-rated health, reporting a health problem, engaging in risky health behavior, feeling lonely, feeling optimistic, and being satisfied with life. Of the 4,090 working children in the study, 11% reported poor health, 16% reported having a health problem, and 13% were engaged in risky behaviors. The majority (67.5%) reported feeling lonely, while around 53% were optimistic and 59% were satisfied with life. The study findings suggest that positive social capital constructs were associated with better health. Lower levels of social cohesion (e.g., not spending time with friends) were significantly associated with poor self-rated health, reporting a physical health problem, and feeling more lonely ([adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 2.4; CI 1.76–3.36, p < 0.001], [AOR, 1.9; CI 1.44–2.55, p < 0.001], and [AOR, 0.5; CI 0.38–0.76, p < 0.001], respectively). Higher levels of social support (e.g., having good social relations), family social capital (e.g., discussing personal issues with parents), and neighborhood attachment (e.g., having a close friend) were all significantly associated with being more optimistic ([AOR, 1.5; CI 1.2–1.75, p < 0.001], [AOR, 1.3; CI 1.11–1.52, p < 0.001], and [AOR, 1.9; CI 1.58–2.29, p < 0.001], respectively) and more satisfied with life ([AOR, 1.3; CI 1.01–1.54, p = 0.04], [AOR, 1.2; CI 1.01–1.4, p = 0.04], and [AOR, 1.3; CI 1.08–1.6, p = 0.006], respectively). The main limitations of this study were its cross-sectional design, as well as other design issues (using self-reported health measures, using a questionnaire that was not subject to a validation study, and giving equal weighting to all the components of the health and emotional well-being indicators). This study highlights the association between social capital, social cohesion, and refugee working children’s physical and emotional health. In spite of the poor living and working conditions that Syrian refugee children experience, having a close-knit network of family and friends was associated with better health. Interventions that consider social capital dimensions might contribute to improving the health of Syrian refugee children in informal tented settlements (ITSs).