Employmentweb_low

EmpLoymEnT, work, And HEALTH inEquALiTiES - a global perspective
Consultation in a primary health care
center in kibagare (kenya).
source: © ilo/p. lissac (2002)
ethnicity, gender, age, and migration status (see Case studies 31
and 32). Several social aspects of work may raise health
concerns; for example, the gender distribution and segregation of
jobs and equality in the workplace, social relationships between
managers and employees, and social support from fellow workers
are all aspects of work which may enrich or reduce social
contacts. In many services and public sector jobs, social pressure
from customers, clients or the public may create an additional
psychological workload.
The kind of work women and men do plays a significant role in
determining their socioeconomic position in society and explains
their differential exposures to health-promoting and healthdamaging
factors. By and large, compared to men, women all over
the world face more difficult hiring standards, fewer opportunities
for training, lower pay for equal work, less access to productive
resources, worse physical and mental working conditions, lower
participation in economic decision-making, and fewer promotion
prospects. These factors negatively affect the status of women's
health and social position relative to men, and consequently have
an important impact on gender inequities in health (Östlin, 2002).
a number of the occupational health problems faced by women
are known in both poor and rich countries. In the former, heavy
physical work, the double burden of job and family, less developed
working technologies, and traditional social roles are important
factors which increase the burden of female workers. In wealthy
countries, where women also face a double burden, lower-paid
manual jobs are often left to female workers (see Case study 33).
also, the design of machinery and work tools are often made
according to male anthropometry, despite the fact that female
workers use the same equipment. Women may also face
problems of occupational exposures that are hazardous to
reproductive health. numerous studies have shown adverse
reproductive health outcomes among women exposed to
pesticides, solvents and organic pollutants, heavy workloads,
postural factors and shift work. For example, in many low-income
countries there is a high concentration of the female labour force
in agriculture. Cash crop production of fruits, vegetables and
flowers involves exposure to toxic chemicals. Women and men in
africa are differentially exposed to pesticides, and women's
exposures have a greater tendency to be invisible to health care
personnel (Kisting, 2005). The adverse health effects of pesticide
exposure include poisoning, cancer, skin diseases, abortions,
premature births, and malformed babies, as has been shown
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