MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? - Tartu Ülikool

TERVIS JA TÖÖVÕIME HEALTH AND CAPACITY FOR WORK
in the same age group. The proportion of obese people increases along with the age and at the
age of 55–64 a quarter of men and as much as one third of women are obese. (Figure 14)
Besides healthy nutrition, physical activity is another factor to combat overweight. Physical
activity, e.g. engagement in recreational sports for health purposes for at least half an hour is also
crucial in prevention of cardiovascular diseases. In general, the proportion of people engaged in
recreational sports tends to decline as the age increases. The main difference in the physical
activity of men and women lies in the fact that men, more than women, engage more in
recreational sports at a younger age, but after passing 35 years of age women are the ones who
are more actively engaged in sports than men.
Health and work
Health status affects personal capacity for work. Poor health may become an obstacle to finding
and keeping a suitable job. On the other hand, working itself may cause the health to deteriorate.
According the Estonian Association of Occupational Disease Patients, occupational disease and
work-induced disease represent damage to health arising due to work environment hazards or
nature of work. A significant feature of an occupational disease is the gradually progressive
chronic disease process caused by work environment hazards with permanent duration for more
than five years.
One factor restricting the capacity for work is a long-term illness. In 2009 the capacity for work
was restricted due to a long-term illness in case of 13% of men and 12% of women aged 15–64.
In most cases the capacity for work is restricted by health problems related to heart, blood
pressure and circulation; back or neck problems, and feet problems. In 2009 the most common
work-restricting diseases for men were back and neck problems (26%), followed by feet problems
(21%), mental illnesses or disorders, emotional and nervous disorders (15%). This list was
slightly different for women. The most common problem is the same for men and women, i.e.
back or neck problems (21%), but the second most common disease is heart, blood pressure and
circulatory disorders (20%), followed by feet problems (16%). The condition restricting the
capacity for work may also be caused by an occupational disease. There are 28% of men and
30% of women whose capacity for work is restricted by an occupational disease.
Problems with hands, feet, back or neck are more frequently found with men and women working
in manufacturing, men engaged in agriculture, construction or transportation; women engaged in
trade, public administration, education or health care. Cardiovascular diseases and diseases of
the circulatory system are more prevalent among men and women working in manufacturing,
men working in construction, women engaged in trade, men working in transportation and women
engaged in public administration, education and health care. Mental disorders and stress occur in
case of men and women working in manufacturing, women working in trade or education, and
respiratory or lung diseases are present in men engaged in manufacturing.
For a majority of people their long-term illness restricting capacity for work has lasted for longer
than ten years. Health disorder restricting capacity for work and present for more than ten years
has been reported by almost a half of men and 42% of women. One fifth of men and a quarter of
women have a health disorder that has been present for five to ten years. Only 5% of men and
3% of women have the work adapted to suit the worker with partial loss of capacity for work. Main
restrictions to work include the type and amount of work, and to a somewhat smaller extent the
difficulties with commuting from home to work. These three factors restricting work have more
frequently been mentioned by men.
An occupational accident is a sudden damage to health or death of an employee which occurs in
the performance of a duty assigned by an employer or in other work performed with the
employer’s permission, during a break included in the working time, or during other activity in the
interests of the employer. Accident which occurred on the way to work is not deemed to be
occupational accident; it is classified as usual accident.
According to the Labour Inspectorate, a total of 2,939 occupational accidents were registered in
2009 and 3,213 occupational accidents in 2010. Pursuant to the Labour Force Survey, the
number of occupational accidents with men exceeds the relevant number with women by three
MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? MAN’S HOME IS THE WORLD, WOMAN’S WORLD IS HER HOME? 57