Special Groups in Working Life

(Vulnerable groups)
 Importance of Occupational Health
• Global work force: 3.3 billion people* employed

– Migrant workers 150 million (4.4% of all)

– Young workers 541 million (15 % of all)
– Child workers: 246 million

*(ILO) Global Employment Trends Report 2012

 Global Estimates (ILO / WHO)
 2.78 million deaths attributed to work
– 86.3% from work-related diseases (2.4 million deaths)
– 13.7% from Fatal accidents (380.500 deaths)

Work-related mortality accounted for 5% of the global total

deaths (based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015)
 374 million non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses
 160 million new cases of work-related illnesses

Global Estimates of Occupational Accidents and Work-related Illnesses 2017 and

Eurostat, 2014 (fatal injuries in EU).
• Work and workplace hazards are known to compromise the
health of workers .
• Besides the health risks in the workplace environment, it is
known that health is also affected by many individual risk
factors such as
– Age
– Gender
– General Health status
– Genetics,
– Nutritional status
– Habits (smoking, alcohol etc.)
– Education …
• Because of such individual differences, workplace hazards
affect some worker populations disproportionately.

1. Women workers (especially pregnant and nursing mothers )

2. Young workers and Child workers (Child labour)
3. Disabled workers
4. Migrant workers
5. Aging workers
 Young Workers
• United Nations (UN), definition for “youth” is persons
between the ages of 15-24
• This group represents more than 15 % of the world’s
labour force, (541 million people) (ILO, 2016b).
•
 Young workers start their working lives by entering the
world of work in different ways :
 Students who work in their spare time (before or after school
hours and during weekends and holidays)

 Students who take up job experience placements

(apprenticeships, internships)

 Young persons who have completed or withdrawn from

compulsory education and are starting their work life

 Young persons who work for family enterprises (paid/unpaid)

 Young employers and young self- employed workers.

 Young workers exhibit varied levels of cognitive, psychosocial
and physical development.

They fall into two major groups:

1. Young workers above the minimum age of employment but

< 18 years.

2. Young workers between ages of 18 - 24

According to international standards, age 18 is the dividing line between childhood and adulthood.
 Young workers above the minimum age of employment
but < 18 years.
• considered “children” even where they may legally perform
certain jobs.
• are often protected by specific restrictions with respect to
– the types of work that they may do,
– the hazards to which they may be exposed and
– the hours that they may work.
(protect children’s health and safety and reduce their risk of suffering
occupational injury and disease)
 Young workers between ages of 18 -24
• considered adults and are covered by the general laws and
regulations on employment and working conditions applicable to
all adult workers.
• they may be legally employed in almost any job without the
benefit of restrictions regarding tasks and hours that apply to
young workers who are above the minimum age of employment
but under the age of 18.
Risk factors that are specific to young workers

 Stage of physical development

• Especially adolescents, are at higher risk of suffering
occupational injury and disease due to the fact that their
bodies (including their brains) are still developing.
• Their reproductive systems and brain functions are
particularly susceptible to hazards that interfere with
these organs.
• adolescents have higher respiratory rates and higher
metabolic rates per unit of body weight.
this causes their bodies to absorb more toxins and to experience
more extreme reactions to the effects of these toxins.
• Special attention needs to be paid to young workers’
exposure to pesticides, neurotoxins, endocrine
disruptors, allergens, or carcinogens.

• Workstations, tools, machinery and equipment are

usually designed for adults and can impose higher
demands on adolescent bodies (IPEC, 2011).
 Stage of psychosocial and emotional development
• Young workers tend to be less able to
– discern the consequences of their actions and
– to assess risks associated with various situations,
• more susceptible to social and motivational pressures,
(the desire to belong, to be considered attractive, to achieve independence)

These characteristics affect young people’s decision-making

and can result in risk taking.
 Lack of Job skills and work experience
(including an understanding of the safety and health hazards and risks
associated with this work)
– A worker’s risk of injury is 4 times greater during the first
month in a new job than it is after just 12 months on the job,
and a young worker‘s risk of harm in their first months in a job is
higher than that of older workers.
 Level of education
• Plays an important role in their transition to stable and
decent employment.
– Higher levels of education and training , and the experience of having
worked while studying tend to make the transition to the labour
market easier.
– Young people with higher levels of education are less often engaged in
informal employment.
– Workers with low levels of education tend to remain in the same job
despite difficult working conditions.

• Awareness of workplace safety also positively influenced

by education.
 Additionally
– gender, in combination with age increase the risk
– disability and of occupational accidents and diseases
– migration status to which young workers are exposed.

 Bacause of limited job skills, work experience and

bargaining power their opportunities are often limited to
entry-level jobs and jobs that are undesirable :
– low pay,
– excessive hours,
– precariousness and
– the hazardous nature of the work
• 78.7 % of young workers work in the informal economy
( = more vulnerable to occupational accidents and diseases)
 Young workers are much more likely than adults to be
engaged in nonstandard forms of employment, where jobs
are less stable and less protected ;

• Agriculture :
– Worldwide, 49.3 % of adolescents between the ages of 15 - 17 and involved in
hazardous work are working in agriculture (ILO, 2017b)
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Mining and quarrying
– mining and quarrying are generally considered forms of hazardous child labour
in which children are prohibited from working until they are 18 years old.
• Services
• Hospitality
• Health and social services
• Domestic work
  Work hazards to which young workers are exposed
• Safety hazards • Health hazards
– Physical hazards
– Biological hazards
– Chemical hazards
– Psychosocial hazards
– Ergonomic hazards

 Types of health outcomes that are a results of young workers

being exposed to hazards in the workplace:
– Musculoskeletal symptoms
– Respiratory
– Allergy and toxicological problems
– Mental health and well-being
– Alcohol and drug use
– Fatigue
These problems are not unique to young workers, but what increases their
vulnerability to specific risks is the stage they have reached in both their physical and
mental development.
Laberge, M., & Ledoux, E. ‘Occupational health and safety issues affecting young workers: A literature review’, Work. Vol. 39, 2011, pp. 215-232.
• Young workers have significantly higher rates of
occupational injury than do adult workers.

• The incidence of non-fatal injury at work was > 40 %

higher among young workers between the ages of 18 and
24 than among adult workers (EU-OSHA, 2007).
• The risk that young workers between the ages of 15 and
24 will suffer a non-fatal occupational injury is
approximately twice as high as that for workers age 25 or
older (CDC, 2010).
 Child Labour
• Ideally, children should not participate in the labor force
in any form;

• nevertheless, many children in many countries around

the world are employed under extremely poor working
conditions.

• Poor working conditions affect children more than

adults, since children are growing and developing.
• Children also are at greater risk of workplace accident
and injury.
Global estimates of child labour:
Results and trends, 2012-2016
Turkey Child labour survey (2012):

– 893.000 children between 6 - 17 age engaged in

economic activity;
• 601.000 aged 15-17
• 292.000 aged 6-14

– 44,7 % Agriculture
– 24,3 % industry
– 31,0 % service
Global estimates results at a glance
 ILO Conventions on Child labour

ILO Minimum Age Convention, No. 138 (1973) “The

Minimum Age…shall be not less than the age of
completion of compulsory schooling ….”

ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, No. 182

(1999): “Each Member shall, …ensure access to free
basic education, and, wherever possible and
appropriate, vocational training, for all children
removed from the worst forms of child labour…”
 Convention, No. 182 (1999)
Worst Forms of Child Labour
• All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as
the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and
serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced
or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed
conflict;
• The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution,
for the production of pornography or pornographic
performances;
• The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities
in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs…;
• Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which
it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or
morals of children (hazardous work).
 Convention No. 138
ILO gives the framework for drawing a line
Minimum Age betweeen work by children that is permissible
Convention and child labour that needs to be eliminated.
No. 138 (154 ratifications, 09/2009)

General Exceptions for

developing countries

Basic Minimum Age (Art. 2) 15 years 14 years

Hazardous work (Art. 3) 18 years NO EXCEPTION

(16 years conditionally)

Light work (Art. 7) 13-15 years 12-14 years

• All countries have legal regulations limiting child
employment.

• Turkey has national laws governing employment of children

and young workers and recognizes international
conventions, including the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention
138 and Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention 182.

• In Turkey, Article 71 of Labor Act 4857 forbids employment

of minors under age 15.
• However, minors age 14 and up are allowed to perform
light work that won’t negatively influence their physical,
mental, social, and moral development or their education.
 Causes of child labour
• Poverty (need for all family members to contribute economically)
• Overpopulation
• Parenteral illiteracy and ignorance
• Lack of school (limited access to school especially at the primary level)
• Direct or indirect costs of education
• Weak laws to protect children
• Adult unemployment and urbanization
• Death of parents or guardians from AIDS, creating a new
generation of child-headed households
How child labour effects the nation
 Child labour and Poverty
Poverty causes child
labour and child
Child Labour labour causes poverty
!!

EDUCATION

To break
Poverty the cycle !!
 WOMEN Workers
• Women in many countries of the world are often at a
disadvantage compared to men in various spheres of
society.

• As a result, gender issues have traditionally lacked

visibility, and this includes women at work (WHO 2011).
 • To understand the issue of occupational health problems
of women, it is necessary to make a detailed study of the
women’s work in terms of ,
– the actual activity undertaken,
– the hours of work and
– the extent of remuneration received.

• The women (so-called housewife) is already doing a single shift.

• If a woman also works outside home, she is consistently
working a double shift.
• When children or family members are ill, she does three shifts
day after day.
• On an average, women work much longer hours than men.

• According to ILO , 2/3rd of the working hours around the

world are worked by women because of the combination of
various roles in the workplace, in the family and in the
society.

• Most often, the women’s work remains invisible but it

contributes a major portion to the world economy.
• About 42 % of the global workforce is female

• There is significant interplay between

– women’s roles in society
– socioeconomic condition, and
– occupation.

• Women’s roles in traditional societies are defined in

relation to child bearing and upbringing of children and
responsibility for the care and comfort of the family.
• Paid employment of women has increased in most
countries, but this has led to a conflict between the
necessity to be at work and women’s traditional home and
family responsibilities.

• In many societies, early marriage, repeated pregnancies,

large families, low educational status, and poverty all
disproportionately impact on women workers.

• The dual roles of women as workers and unpaid caregivers

is especially challenging for sole-support mothers, who
comprise 20–30 % of households world wide.
 Women Workforce in Turkey
• The total labour force is > 30 million
• The rate of unregistered employment 32.5%
• The number of employed persons 26 million 672 thousand
– Out of the 8 million 142 are women
• Labour force participation rates for women in Turkey
– 1955 %72,1
– 1990 %34,1
– 2004 %23,3
– 2017 %33,1
• In rural areas labour force paticipation rate is 41,3 %, and
in urban areas 25,3 %
• Women employment rate 27,8 % (2017)
 Turkey Labour Force Statistics, 2017

Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK 2017)

• Employment of women in most societies is
characterized by ;
– occupational segregation,
– under-employment (often involved in doing
seasonal and part-time work below their level of
education),
– barriers to advancement.
• Women face different workplace health problems than
men, partly because men and women tend to have
different kinds of jobs
• Social, economic, and cultural factors also put women at
risk for injury and illness.
• women are more likely than men to do work part-time,
temporary, or contract work.
• Compared to workers in traditional jobs, contingent
workers have lower incomes and fewer benefits.
• Like all workers in insecure jobs, women may fear that
bringing up a safety issue could result in job loss or more
difficult work situations.
• They may also be less likely to report a work-related injury.
Globally, women are paid less than men
• Balancing work and family tasks can put additional
stress on women, who in many families still take
primary responsibility for child and eldercare.
• When family and work demands collide, the stress
can lead to physical health problems (poor appetite,
lack of sleep, increase in blood pressure, fatigue, and
increased susceptibility to infection)
• It can also result in mental health problems such as
burnout and depression.
 Risk factors for women workers
 Endogenous risk factors:

• The main endogenous factors which put female workers at

higher risks of developing work related health problems or of
suffering from occupational accidents are associated to
women’s biological differences with men, particularly with
regard to their reproductive and sexual functions and to their
physical strength.

• Pregnancies and breastfeeding, menstruation, menopause,

fertility and sexual and reproductive functioning are relevant
factors in the occupational safety and health of female
workers.

• Many occupational risks can cause menstrual disorders ,

(occupational stress, exposure to heavy metals or solvents or
exposure to environmental noise and hot and cold conditions,
the effect of shift work, in particular night shifts )
• Poor working conditions can contribute to a range of health
issues for women associated with pregnancy and the period
after giving birth, including tiredness and fatigue, pain and
discomfort, back problems, postural problems, swollen legs,
nausea, blood pressure changes and stress.

• Health risks such as these to pregnant workers and workers

who are breastfeeding have been addressed in ILO
conventions, guidelines and local regulations.

• This does not mean that these risks do not exist anymore but,
if the legislation and the guidelines were fully implemented, they
would be substantially lower.
– ILO Maternity Protection Convention 3 of 1919
– ILO Maternity Protection Convention 103 of 1952
– ILO Maternity Protection Convention 183 and
– ILO Recommendation No. 191 of 2000

 TURKEY :
– Regulation on Working Conditions of Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women, Nursing Rooms and Child Care
Units published in Turkish Official Gazete
– Regulation on Employment of Women Workers on Night Shifts published in Turkish Official Gazette
No.28717 on 24.07.2013.
While legislation provides important protection, risk factors for
pregnant workers remain because ;
women often declare their pregnancies to their employer
between the 7th - 10th weeks.
the greatest risks of fetal malformation or miscarriages lie
between the 3rd - 8th week of gestation, meaning that measures
to prevent exposure to mutagens or reprotoxins will come in too
late for a majority of women (the greatest risks of fetal
malformation or miscarriages lie between the 3rd - 8th week of
gestation, meaning that measures to prevent exposure to mutagens or
reprotoxins will come in too late for a majority of women)
• Women are on average smaller and less physically strong than men.

• Therefore women tend to occupy positions which are seemingly less

physically demanding .
• the differences in sectors and jobs mean that women are at a lower risk
with regards to certain occupational hazards ( e.g. vibration and noise ).

• Although it is often assumed that women therefore carry out “lighter”

tasks than men or that their work is consequently physically less
“strenuous” studies have shown that these “light” tasks can include
very physical activities, such as lifting heavy loads, maintaining
awkward postures, or performing highly repetitive movements.

• Moreover, many women face difficult movements including lifting patients

(nurses), lifting heavy folders or boxes of paper (clerks, secretaries), scrubbing
floors (cleaners), awkward postures (cleaners, agricultural workers), repetitive
hand and arm movements (assembly line workers) and prolonged walking and
standing (shop staff).

• The health outcomes of these physical efforts can include accidents

and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
 Exogenous Risk Factor
• distinctive patterns of exposure of women to
occupational hazards arise from two main factors:
1) gender segregation in employment
2) gender segregation with regards to domestic responsibilities
 MİGRANT WORKERS

• In 2015, 244 million people were living outside their country

of origin, comprising 3.3% of the world’s population (UN).
• ILO estimates that approximately half of these are
immigrant workers, those who leave their countries of origin
in search of occupational opportunities in another (often
more developed) country.
• They represent nearly 4% of the total global population
aged 15 years and over
• if internal migration is included, the total global migrant
population approaches 1 billion.
Average annual net migration by region, 1980-2015
4

3 0.2
0.1 1.2
Oceania
Net inflow of migrants (millions per year)

2 1.5 0.2
0.1 1.1 Northern America
1 0.8 1.7
0.9 Latin America and the
0.8
0.4 Caribbean
0 -0.3
-0.3 -0.5 -0.7 Europe
-0.3
-1 -0.7 -1.3
-1.1 Asia
-1.8
-2 -0.8 -0.4 Net senders
Africa
-0.8
-3

-4
1980-1990 1990-2000 2000-2010 2010-2015
Population Division, DESA, United Nations
• Nearly half of all transnational migrants work in either
North America or in Northern, Southern, or Western
Europe.

• 40% of global migration is between countries in the

Southern Hemisphere.

• Workers migrating internationally come from Asia (43%),

Europe (25%), and Latin America and the Caribbean
(15%)
• Migrant workers worldwide are engaged in
– Service industry 71.1 %
(domestic work, food services, and administrative or professional work)
– Industry (manufacturing and construction)
– Agricultural work

• The ILO estimates that ;

– 44.3% of all migrant workers are women
– women are six times more likely than men to be engaged
in domestic work abroad.
Occupational Health Risks for migrant Workers

• are often engaged in what are known as 3-D jobs

—dirty, dangerous, and demanding (sometimes degrading or
demeaning)
• are often hidden from or invisible to the public eye and
from public policy
• work for less pay, for longer hours, and in worse
conditions than do nonmigrants
• are often subject to human rights violations, abuse,
human trafficking, and violence
• Most importantly, these precarious workers may take
greater risks on the job, do work without adequate
training or protective equipment, and do not complain
about unsafe working conditions.
• This situation is the most critical for immigrant workers who
lack work authorization and are at risk for losing their jobs or
even being deported.
• Recent increases in incidents and costs of
occupational injuries and fatalities have been
attributed largely to immigrant workers :
– inherent risks in the jobs themselves
– the lack of training and protection for immigrant workers.
• Worldwide, immigrant workers have higher rates of
negative occupational exposures, leading to poor health
outcomes, workplace injuries, and occupational fatalities.
– Migrant workers were more likely than native workers
to be exposed to high temperatures, loud noises,
strong vibrations, and fast work speeds and to stand
for long periods of time.
– They are often worked without contracts and had
unfavorable work schedules .
• Environmental Exposures
– Temperature
– Pesticides
– Chemicals

• Working Conditions:
– Occupational sectors that employ immigrant workers
tend to include work that is physically demanding.
– These demands increase the risk of injuries and
fatalities because working conditions may be unsafe
or unregulated.
– The precarious position of immigrants prevents them
from making changes to their working conditions
when an unsafe or hazardous condition is identified.
– Lack of safety standards
• Workplace abuse
– physical abuse
– verbal abuse
– harassment (has been termed benign neglect when
managers fail to implement or enforce safety measures)

• Human trafficking and forced labor :

– estimates of the number of persons trafficked vary widely
from 2.5 million to 27 million,
– majority are women and girls however, human trafficking
of men also exists in selected industries (e.g., fishing,
mining) around the world
Other problems are,
• Language and Cultural Barriers
• Access to Health Care
• Female Gender
• Documentation Status
– Workers who lack legal authorization to work are arguably
most susceptible to negative health outcomes
• Political Climate :
– Immigrants are always subject to the political climate of
the receiving country, which creates uncertainty and
irregularity in the treatment of workers
 Workers With DISABILITIES

A disability is a physical or mental impairment which

has substantial and long term adverse effects on the ability
to carry out normal day to day activities.

 1 billion people with disabilities (15 % of world's

population)
• 80 % living in developing countries
• 80 % are of working age.

 The right of people with disabilities to decent work,

however, is frequently denied.
• Legislation in some countries prohibits employers from
discriminating against individuals with disabilities, and
encourages employers to make reasonable
accommodation for those with a known impairment.
 imposing quotas on enterprises to employ a certain
percentage of disabled people.
 using employment promotion measures to ensure
workplace accessibility and provide employment services
in the form of job placement agencies.
 providing tax reductions as a financial incentive to
compensate employers for any financial burden resulting
from the employment of disabled people.
• People with disabilities, particularly women with
disabilities, face enormous attitudinal, physical and
informational barriers to equal opportunities in the
world of work.
• Compared to non-disabled persons, they experience
higher rates of unemployment and economic inactivity
and are at greater risk of insufficient social protection
that is a key to reducing extreme poverty.
• Often hold low-skilled jobs, part-time contracts, have less
autonomy, face discrimination (e.g. lower salaries)
• Employees with disabilities perform as well as or better
than comparable employees with no disabilities.
Additional adjustments in the workplace were required
by only 4 per cent of disabled people of employable age
(ILO 2007a).
 OSH Risks for Workers with disabilities:
• Workers with disabilities are a diverse group, and thus
the health and safety issues they face vary greatly.
• (Epilepsy ? …… ortopedic disability ? etc)
• The OSH risks associated to a certain job or task can be
considerably different for workers with disabilities
compared to other workers.
• workers with disabilities can be exposed to different risks
than their non-disabled colleagues who are carrying out
the same tasks, because of the alternative ways of
performing their work that they might need to adopt.
• Integrating and retaining workers with disabilities in
appropriate work is important for OSH
Health Outcomes

No wide data on work-related health problems for workers

with disabilities
 Thank you
for your patience and attention