Health, Women's Work, and Industrialization - Center for Gender in ...

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To women, these jobs have brought some benefits; yet, to the observed,
thei r work has not brought about structural change. Despite these changes
on the individual and family level, the overall social role prescribed for
women is slower to change. Women are still confined to the role of
housework and to the secondary labor market (Chiang 1982; Lim 1982). In
some ways, the burden and conflict experienced may be greater than before.
Clearly, the development of the massive electronics industry in Asia has
set vari ous soci al forces into moti on: women enteri ng the manufacturi ng
workforce in large numbers; rural women migrating, sometimes on their own,
to cities; the changing patterns of friendships and marriage choices. Also,
within the factories women have to learn a new set of rules of behavior -­
that of factory discipl ine -- and they are working under conditions they
have not experi enced before. All of these changes have important
consequences for workers I health. The health of e 1 ectroni cs workers is
important as a central contributing factor in the stability and productivity
of the labor force and as a reflection of the social and industrial
conditions of life.
Given these conditions, a number of health problems would be expected.
Some of these have been reported in anecdotal accounts and descriptive
studies, such as complaints regarding the eye, musculoskeletal, skin,
respi ratory, gastroi ntestinal , and central nervous systems, sl eepi ng
problems, and psychological complaints. Others are expected on the basis of
the existing literature in occupational health and social epidemiology.
A variety of causes has been suggested for these health problems. The
deleterious effect of microscope use is the most frequent and most hotly
debated hazard (Lim et al. 1972; Ostberg 1984). A variety of potentially
hazardous chemicals is also used in various stages of electronics assembly
process, including TCE, MEK, xylene, acetone, solder flux, sulphuric acid,
and hydrochloric acid; they are suspect as causes for skin and respiratory
diseases (California DIR 1981; Burge et al. 1979; US NIOSH 1977). Shiftwork
has been suggested as the cause of sleeping problems and gastrointestinal
disturbances (Tasto et al 1978; Angersbach et al. 1980). None of these
causes has been thoroughly analyzed, nor have the health complaints been
rel ated to other possi bl e causati ve factors, such as stress, nutriti on,
social support, migration, lifestyles, and various aspects of the work
environment. Nor have any of the health (physical and mental) controversies
been settled.
The lives of electronics workers in Asia incorporate the diverse issues
of concern in the occupational health and social epidemiology literature.
It is highly likely that the health and illness of electronics workers
relate to the technical means of production, the social organization of
work, and consumpti on and reproducti on patterns. There are obvi ous health
outcomes rel ated di rectly to the techni cal means of producti on, such as
microscope and eyesight determination; there are also problems related to
the organization of work, such as shiftwork and sleeplessness. A state of
ill-health persists when the occupational assault is great and the