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Abstract

In this chapter, the author explores the health and safety practices in the pornography industry. Adult film industry workers face serious health risks due to potential infection with HIV and other pathogens transmitted through sexual contact. The author will look into recent legislation impacting the pornography industry such as Proposition 60 in California which enforces the existing mandatory condom rule and provide other health protections for adult film performers. Also, OSHA and workers compensation is discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    And, the respective state level counterpart.

  2. 2.

    OSHA’s oversight appears valuable given recent data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled in an AFL-CIO report show an increase in work-related fatalities involving independent contractors (Trumka, Shuler, & Gebre, 2017).

  3. 3.

    In April 2019, drivers for Uber were deemed independent contractors and not employees; the general counsel of a US labor agency concluded in an advisory memo to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

  4. 4.

    http://apagunion.com/2019/09/30/ab5-5-passes-in-california-making-many-independent-contractors-employees/.

  5. 5.

    Regulatory agencies have been slow to adapt to the gig economy. Interest groups like the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health have lobbied OSHA to enforce workplace safety issues in the gig economy under a “dual employer” theory. This would make the gig company responsible for safety compliance, even though the gig worker is not an employee of the hiring organization (Shaw, 2019).

  6. 6.

    It is worth noting that web sites like antipornography.org, findthenewdrug.org, and collectiveshout.org detail injuries and safety concerns within the pornography industry from an anti-(s)exploitation and dangers of pornography lens.

  7. 7.

    https://www.kink.com/model-rights.

  8. 8.

    In April, 2017, APAC called for an Immediate Production Hold due to an adult industry performer testing positive for HIV. The Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) requested a temporary industry-wide production hold while doctors perform confirmatory tests. Based on the current genealogy, it was determined that there was low-risk to the performer pool, but APAC released a statement within the following days regarding a two-week moratorium.

  9. 9.

    Such aplomb within the industry was memorialized in books like, The Porn Star Guide to Great Sex (Marcus, 2010).

  10. 10.

    Corporate Leadership Council, Best Practices to Engage Employees, 2009

  11. 11.

    The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) measures such dimensions

  12. 12.

    The author is utilizing the 4-channel version of FLOW

  13. 13.

    Anxiety can be both positive and negative; usually anxiety becomes negative when it is chronic vs. episodic

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Correspondence to David M. Kopp .

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Kopp, D.M. (2020). Workplace Health and Safety. In: Human Resource Management in the Pornography Industry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37659-8_7

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