Twentieth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

Women are now the main suppliers of labour for the textile industry in many developing countries. However, the majority of women work under precarious employment conditions, which are typically characterized as insecure, poorly paid, and unprotected. The precarious work conditions have pervasive consequences on the nature of work behaviour, workplaces, and the occupational health and safety of the workers. This study investigates the role of precarious work conditions in developing occupational illness in women textile workers in Pakistan. The study is undertaken in eighteen textile spinning mills in 2015 in Lahore and Faisalabad, Pakistan. The sample consists of 541 women textile workers, and comparable 513 non-textile women. All respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to collect information on respiratory diseases, demographic and socio-economic characteristics, as well as work conditions. Workers reported symptoms of cough (21 percent), asthma (9.3 percent), shortness of breath (16.8 percent), wheezing (3.9 percent), and bronchitis (4.8 percent). While non-working (control group) women reported symptoms of cough (8.2 percent), asthma (2.1 percent), shortness of breath (0.4 percent), wheezing (1.9 percent), and bronchitis (3.0 percent). The probit analysis shows that the risk of respiratory diseases is significantly higher for women workers who work overtime and longer hours per week, have no separate kitchen in the house, and use firewood in the kitchen. The results suggest that precarious work conditions in textile mills are the principal cause of health problems in workers. The study recommends establishing cotton dust standards, and enforcing maximum work hours/week in the industry.