• According to Pew Research Center, gig workers of color felt twice as unsafe as workers who are white, according to Pew Research Center.
• Workers of color reported twice as many sexual advances while on the job.
• The majority of gig workers are people of color, and they say they fear exposure to coronavirus.

American gig workers of color are twice as likely as white workers to report safety and health concerns -- this is in addition to the fact that they don't have the basic benefits of full-time workers.

Pew Research Center's new study found that gig workers of color were more likely to feel unsafe, sexually harassed and exposed to health hazards while working. As independent contractors, gig workers don't have the same job security, legal protections and insurance as workers.

Pew reports that 69% of the 53 million US gig workers working for platforms such as Uber, Lyft and Instacart are people of color. This increases their risk of being injured at work. Hispanic adults are more likely to have done gig work than any other ethnic group. 30% of the respondents are Hispanic, 20% are Black adults, and 19% are Asian adults. Only 12% of gig workers are white. (The Pew Research Center doesn't distinguish between white and nonwhite Hispanic populations. Therefore, the calculation of the percentage white adults does not include white Hispanic respondents.

Here's how gig workers in color described their work conditions based on the Pew Survey.

Black gig workers are more likely than others to feel unsafe

41% of non-white workers said that they felt unsafe when working, as opposed to 28% for white workers.

They are twice as likely to report feeling unsafe at work than their white counterparts -- 15% for nonwhite workers and 8% for white.

According to EHS Today, an occupational safety magazine that represents gig workers, nearly half of workplace deaths are caused by transportation accidents. They noted that gig workers may lack the safety and knowledge necessary to safely perform their job for companies such as TaskRabbit or Amazon Flex due to a lack in proper training.

They are more likely to feel sexually harassed

In August's data collection, the report also revealed that gig workers have different safety concerns based on their race.

Unwanted sexual advances are more common in gig workers of color. 24% of non-white workers reported that they have experienced unwanted sexual advances at times while working, compared with 13% of white workers.

There are statistically no differences between non-white and white workers when it comes to more benign occupational hazards like being treated rudely or customers.

They also expressed more concern about COVID exposure

Non-white gig workers reported more health problems related to their job than did white workers, particularly when it comes to exposures to the coronavirus.

59% of respondents from non-whites who worked in gig platform jobs over the past year stated that they were at least "somewhat worried" about contracting the coronavirus. This compares to 38% of white respondents. These fears of gig workers are correlated with general concerns about the coronavirus among racial or ethnic groups, according to Pew researchers.

This is confirmed by data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They stated that more COVID-19 deaths, cases, and hospitalizations occur in areas populated by racial or ethnic minorities.

The CDC stated that community strategies to slow down the spread of COVID-19 could cause unintentional harm for some racial or ethnic minorities, such as reduced wages, reduced access services and increased stress.

Some gig jobs like Uber or Lyft require frequent contact with the public. This could increase the risk of contracting the coronavirus. According to the Pew study, 51% of gig workers have expressed concern about contracting the coronavirus on the job in the last year.