Employmentweb_low

EmploymEnt, Work, And hEAlth InEquAlItIEs - a global perspective
Woman working in the pharmaceutical
industry (hungary).
source: © ilo/J. Maillard (1997)
reactions to these toxins can be separated into chronological steps:
absorption, distribution, transformation and excretion. in some
instances there is also a period of storage in the human organism.
The main routes of absorption are via the respiratory system, the
skin and the gastrointestinal system. once absorbed, some toxins
have direct effects (for example, on the skin). Most of them however,
are picked up and transported by blood circulation to specific parts
of the body where they are stored or start to react. The chemical or
biological reaction process often leads to a transformation to a less
toxic form, however there are known exceptions, such as
carcinogens. The main routes of excretion are the kidneys and the
liver (frumkin & Thun, 2000).
scientific findings
Causal explanations for class inequality in health--an empirical analysis
one of the most important issues for research on social class inequalities in health are the causes behind such
differences. so far, the debate on class inequalities in health has mainly been centred around hypotheses on artifactual and
selection processes. although most contributors to this branch of research have argued in favor of causal explanations,
these have received very little systematic scrutiny. in this article, several possible causal factors are singled out for empirical
testing. the effect of these factors on class differences in physical and mental illness is studied by means of logit
regressions.
on the basis of these analyses, it is shown that physical working conditions are the prime source of class inequality in
physical illness, although economic hardship during upbringing and health-related behaviours also contribute. For class
inequality in mental illness, these three factors plus weak social network are important. in sum, a large part of the class
differences in physical as well as mental illness can be understood as a result of systematic differences between classes in
living conditions, primarily differences in working conditions.
Source
lundberg, o. (1991). causal explanations for class inequality in health--an empirical analysis. Social Science and Medicine,
32, 385-393.
Social inequalities and workplace hazards in Europe
health hazards at work are a major determinant of poor health and injuries, even though remarkable progress towards
healthier workplaces can be observed in many european countries. in the 1990s, for example, work-related ill health was
the fourth major contributor to the total disease burden in the 15 countries that belonged to the eu before 1 May 2004
(diderichsen, dahlgren, & vågerö, 1997). the proportion of the total burden of disease caused by work-related risk factors
is, however, different in different countries. For the 15 countries that belonged to the eu before 1 May 2004 as a whole, for
example, 3.6 per cent of the total burden of disease was directly related to the work environment, while in sweden it was
only 2.2 per cent (diderichsen et al., 1997).
this indicates that significant possibilities still exist for reducing work-related poor health and premature death. Major
hazards include exposure to chemicals, biological agents, physical factors, adverse ergonomic conditions, allergens,
different safety risks and varied psychosocial factors. studies in eastern europe have also shown that the balance at work
between effort and reward has a significant inverse association with self-reported health and depression, as well as with
alcohol use (pikhart et al., 2001; walters & suhrcke, 2005). conversely, the social aspect of a working environment can
constitute a very positive determinant of health. For many people, the feeling of doing something useful together with
colleagues is one of the most important dimensions of life and positive health.
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