We get affected too: Women's occupational safety and health hazards in the fish processing subsector in Tanzania demystified

Abstract

While there have been numerous studies in the occupational safety and health hazards (OSHHs’) domain in the heavy and beleaguered manufacturing industries, where men are quantitatively dominant, the same level of attention has not been accorded to lighter and small-medium enterprises such as the fish processing subsector, where most women sell their labour-power. This apathy is the failure to acknowledge the existence of numerous OSHHs and their gendered-differentiated effects in such spaces. This paper demonstrates how women got affected in less considered environments, particularly the fish processing subsector. The findings used in this paper were obtained from the study conducted in the five fish processing plants (FPPs) in Tanzania, which involved 157 respondents. Questionnaires, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and observations were used to collect data. Findings revealed that women in the FPPs were confronted with various OSHHs emanating from the physical, environmental, mental, psychological, and cultural domains that significantly affected their health in the short and long run. Thus, a gender-based analysis in studying, recommending, and addressing OSHHs is highly recommended.