Invisible work, unseen hazards: the health of women immigrant household service workers in Spain

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ahonen EQ ; Benach J ; Benavides FG ; García AM ; Gil-González D ; López-Jacob MJ ; Porthé V ; Ruiz-Frutos C ; Vázquez ML
• Corporate Authors:
  Proyecto Inmigración, Trabajo y Salud
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Household service work has been largely absent from occupational health studies. We examine the occupational hazards and health effects identified by immigrant women household service workers. METHODS: Exploratory, descriptive study of 46 documented and undocumented immigrant women in household services in Spain, using a phenomenological approach. Data were collected between September 2006 and May 2007 through focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews. Data were separated for analysis by documentation status and sorted using a mixed-generation process. In a second phase of analysis, data on psychosocial hazards were organized using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire as a guide. RESULTS: Informants reported a number of environmental, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards and corresponding health effects. Psychosocial hazards were especially strongly present in data. Data on reported hazards were similar by documentation status and varied by several emerging categories: whether participants were primarily cleaners or carers and whether they lived in or outside of the homes of their employers. Documentation status was relevant in terms of empowerment and bargaining, but did not appear to influence work tasks or exposure to hazards directly. CONCLUSIONS: Female immigrant household service workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards that could be acted upon by improved legislation, enforcement, and preventive workplace measures, which are discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Ergonomics Mental Health Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Environmental-hazards Household-workers Housekeeping-personnel Humans Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Psychological-effects Service-industries Sociological-factors
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  405-416
• Volume:
  53
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045568
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2010 Apr; 53(4):405-416
• Contact Point Address:
  Emily Q. Ahonen, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 2121 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612
• Email:
  ahonen@uic.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fd58ecadb219a197c439f2e1f6da91b19572047b7514d9544504ede526dfda54f58dfa2512da3182fdbe69284b840b34ba874bcb305279dc385377764db98040
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200941/cdc_200941_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 145.45 KB ]