Employmentweb_low

EmploymEnt, Work, And hEAlth InEquAlItIEs - a global perspective
selected scientific findings
The health impact of occupational risks in the Zimbabwe’s informal sector
information about occupational health in the informal sector is lacking, despite its growing contribution to employment.
the author describes a survey of occupational health in urban and rural informal sector workers in Zimbabwe. common
hazards included poor work organisation, poor hygiene, ergonomic hazards, hazardous hand tools and chemical exposures,
particularly to pesticides and solvents. an annual occupational mortality rate of 12.49/100,000 was half the formal sector
rate. reported rates of 131 injuries/1,000 workers and 116 illnesses/1,000 workers exceeded formal sector rates tenfold and
a hundredfold, respectively (although the distribution of injuries by economic sector correlated significantly with formal
sector rates). the survey found high levels of musculoskeletal and respiratory illness, which had been thought to be underdetected
in formal systems. a fifth of the injuries had resulted in permanent disability with little consequent job loss, but
with no compensation granted. the author recommends improvements to occupational health in the informal sector, and
suggests a broader survey of occupational morbidity in all sectors of employment.
Source
loewenson, r. (1998). health impact of occupational risks in the informal sector in Zimbabwe. International Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Health, 4(4), 264-274.
Does women’s work improve their nutrition Evidence from the urban Philippines
women's market work in developing countries is thought to improve their well-being directly through increased income
for health-related purchases and indirectly through elevating women's status within the household. while a number of
studies have looked at the effects of women's work and the cost of women's time on child nutrition and welfare, the direct
effects of women's work on their own welfare have been largely untested. using data on 1963 urban Filipino women from
the cebu longitudinal health and nutrition survey, we examined the relationship between women's work and their dietary
intakes of energy, protein, fat, calcium and iron from home- and commercially-prepared foods. determinants equations for
home and commercial intakes were estimated simultaneously to adjust for non-independence. appropriate methods were
used to deal with selectivity, endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity. nearly half (48%) of the women worked for pay, and
commercially-prepared foods made up an important part of working women's diets. not only did women's work improve the
quality of their diets, but there were strong distributional implications; lower-income women gained more than higherincome
women. the employment sector also influenced women's dietary patterns. informal non-wage work was associated
with increased intakes, whereas formal sector work was associated with decreased intakes. the positive effects of work in
the informal sector were greater for women from low-income households.
Source
bisgrove, e. Z., & popkin, b. M. (1996). does women’s work improve their nutrition evidence from the urban philippines.
Social Science and Medicine, 43(10), 1475-1488.
Fatal occupational injuries among self-employed workers in North Carolina
Background: research suggests that rates of occupational injury and death may be higher among self-employed workers than
among the wage and salaried population. this analysis was conducted in order to describe the demographic and occupational
characteristics, as well as injuries, activities, and occupations of self-employed workers who were fatally injured on the job.
methods: characteristics of workers by type of employment were compared using data from the north carolina office
of the chief Medical examiner, 1978-1994. age-, activity-, and industry-specific fatality rates in self-employed workers
(n=395) were contrasted with those for privately employed people (n=1,654).
results: the highest fatal injury rates among the self-employed occurred in agriculture, retail and transportation
industries. homicide deaths occurred more frequently among self-employed workers; and deaths resulting from
unintentional injuries occurred more frequently among non-self-employed workers.
Conclusions: elevated occupational fatality death rates among self-employed workers, especially in retail and transportation
industries, provide justification for addressing the work-related conditions of self-employed workers in north carolina.
Source
Mirabelli, M. c., loomis, d., & richardson, d. b. (2003). Fatal occupational injuries among self-employed workers in north
carolina. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 44(2), 182-190.
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