Effects of Occupational Safety and Health Hazards on Women and Children

This article discusses the impact and effects of occupational safety and health hazards on women and children, industrial safety for women working in industries, companies etc. We all know, unlike the old conventions that women are less efficient than men, the contribution of women in industries is increasing drastically giving a strong statement that they are equally capable as men. They are also willing to take the challenging assignments in Industries even if they are doing the same in their home. But there are always risks associated with every challenging job. We have recently discussed  that the identification of occupational health and safety hazards among informal sector workers are very poor, but in case of women, it is even less understood. If a women is working in an unorganized sector, then the situation is even worse. 

For a woman doing a job, the first and foremost thing to behold is the balance between her professional work and family. The imbalance of the same will lead to occupational stress. In addition to paid work, women also do other demanding jobs like cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. In this scenario, the extended work hours for a women in an industry puts tremendous pressure on women's bodies and minds. Women also face an increased risk of musculo-skeletal disorders because of the repetitive nature of jobs they perform, and having to work in uncomfortable positions for long hours. They also work with chemicals in home based work. A women working in plantation kind of job is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning. The extend of the effect of all these factors on women depends up on their personal demographics.

You may wonder why the effect the of children on occupational safety and health is also mentioned in this article even though many countries have banned child labour and children are not legally supported to work. But the true fact is that, even after implementation of stringent laws there are many children working in the informal sectors of industry. Sometimes children have to help their parents for economic reasons. But the dangerous fact is that the growing body of a child is more susceptible to hazards at the workplace. Moreover because of the legislation that children are not supposed to work, very few initiatives are targeted at improving their working conditions.