Abstract
A considerable fraction of the female workforce worldwide is making ends meet by doing various jobs informally at home or in nearby places, rather than at employers’ premises. The contribution of these female home-based workers (FHBWs) is significant to the country’s economic growth. FHBWs are often confronted with numerous occupational diseases due to a lack of awareness of occupational safety and health measures, and unhealthy living and working conditions. The informality of FHBWs prevents them from getting proper healthcare, safety, and other dispensations enjoyed by formal employees. Despite their undeniable importance, health issues of FHBWs are still overlooked. This study is an attempt to discover the frequent co-occurring occupational diseases encountered by FHBWs in Punjab, a province of Pakistan. Frequent itemset mining (FIM) or co-occurrence grouping is a technique of data science that identifies the associations among different entities in the data. Based on FIM, the D-GENE algorithm is applied in this study to efficiently discover frequent co-occurring diseases in the data obtained from the Punjab Home-based Workers Survey (2016). The far-reaching goal of the study is to bring awareness of the occupational health issues and safety risks to the health authorities as well as to the FHBWs.
Highlights
Led by the search of low-cost inputs by businesses [1] with the increase in poverty levels, the informal economy is expanding at a fast pace in developing countries
By applying frequent itemset mining, a fundamental data science technique, this study has revealed insights that would not be possible with conventional statistical techniques
The majority of female workers in Pakistan are categorized as Female Home-Based
Summary
Led by the search of low-cost inputs by businesses [1] with the increase in poverty levels, the informal economy is expanding at a fast pace in developing countries. Female home-based workers (FHBWs) are categorized as informal workers who carry out remunerative work at home or in adjacent premises, rather than at employers’ premises. They are usually engaged in manufacturing and post-manufacturing tasks such as embroidery/stitching, carpet weaving, paper products, handicrafts, football making, and others. These workers are often confronted with unhealthy living and working conditions. A dreadful impact is witnessed on the earnings of FHBWs, which further reduces their ability to seek appropriate medical treatment
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