Domestic Cleaners Research Articles

(In)visible by Design: An Analysis of a Domestic Labor Platform

Since the rise of platform labor, food delivery, and ride hailing workers have become a visible part of cityscapes, unlike platform workers in the domestic sector. The invisibilization and economic devaluation of reproductive tasks, especially in the private sphere, has a long history.Although platforms are not likely to yield a radical transformation in this sector, qualitative changes concerning the invisibility of work outsourced by households can be observed. In this contribution, we draw from the analytical framework of (in)visibility of/in platform-mediated work and map it against our research findings on a key platform in domestic cleaning in Europe, including netnographic data and interviews with workers and clients. Using the framework as a heuristic tool leads us to a more nuanced understanding of (in)visibility in platform-mediated cleaning in perceptible, institutional, and individual terms. Moreover, we argue that the interrelations between these three layers of (in)visibility offer novel insights for making sense of worker organizing and collective action, the practices related to leaving the platform, and the issue of workers’ occupational identity of domestic cleaners. As such, the study contributes to the current debates on platform labor and domestic work, including the value-visibility relation and the role of digital platforms therein.

Lung cancer risk associated with occupations in women: a pooling study.

Occupation is an important risk factor for lung cancer. This knowledge is mainly based on studies conducted on men, with the results being generalized to women. We aimed to identify the relationship between different occupations and lung cancer in women. Pooling study in which data were pooled from six case-control studies conducted at 13 Spanish hospitals and 1 hospital in Portugal. Each woman's longest held job was coded as per the ISCO-08. Results were adjusted for age, smoking, and exposure to residential radon. The study population comprised 1262 women: 618 cases and 644 controls. The reference group were white-collar workers. The adjusted multivariate analysis showed a higher risk of developing lung cancer among teaching professionals (odds ratio [OR]: 4.36; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.73-11.02), cooks (OR: 3.59; 95% CI 1.52-8.48), domestic cleaners and helpers (OR: 2.98; 95% CI 1.54-5.78), homemakers (OR: 2.30; 95% CI 1.26-4.21) and crop farmers, livestock farmers and gardeners (OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.11-3.81). For adenocarcinoma, the highest risk was observed in teaching professionals, and for small-cell carcinoma, the highest risk was observed in cooks. Higher risks were observed for small-cell carcinoma compared to other histological types. Some occupations may be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer in women and this risk could vary by histologic subtype; however, further research is needed to confirm these associations. In any case, protection measures must be implemented in the workplace aimed at reducing the risk of lung cancer among women workers, and more studies exclusively focused on women are warranted.

Precarious employment and mental health in the Belgian service voucher system: the role of working conditions and perceived financial strain.

Jobs in domestic cleaning are often conceived as 'precarious employment' (PE)-i.e. a multidimensional concept referring to accumulated adverse characteristics of employment due to workers' weak bargaining position. Against this background, the Belgian service voucher system (SVS) was implemented aimed at creating formal and stable, subsidized domestic services jobs. The current study assesses the relationship between PE and mental health (WHO5) in the Belgian SVS, accounting for the potential mediating role of working conditions and perceived financial strain at the household level. We analysed a cross-sectional sample of 1,115 Belgian SVS domestic cleaners, collected in 2019 through an online survey. A mediation model was estimated. The crude effect of PE on adverse mental health was strong (ß 0.545-S.E. 0.063). However, 50% of the association between PE and mental well-being was mediated by work task characteristics (quantitative demands, physical demands, task variation and autonomy) and 25% by household-level perceived financial strain. The remaining direct effect of PE on adverse mental well-being is ß 0.066 (S.E. 0.032-25% of the total effect). These findings are the first based on the Belgian Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES-BE) and are consistent with earlier-made-but seldom simultaneously tested-assumptions on the mechanisms relating PE to adverse mental health-i.e. involving direct associations and indirect associations via adverse working conditions and material deprivation. Based on the results, we recommend more democratic and higher-quality management practices in the SVS, in addition to higher wages and working time reduction.

Domestic Cleaners in the Informal Labour Market: New Working Realities Shaped by the Gig Economy?

Previous studies show that gig economy‐based work opens up new ways in which inequalities are (re)produced. In this context, it is particularly important to look at female cleaners in private households, where gender inequalities intersect with other axes of disadvantage such as class, migratory experience, or ascribed ethnicity. This spatially and linguistically fragmented group presents challenges for scientific research, which is reflected in insufficient data available to date. The aim of the project GigClean—from which research for this article is drawn—is to address this gap. The guiding research question is: How do domestic cleaners in the informal labour market experience working in the gig economy? The methodological design consists of 15 problem‐centred interviews with platform‐based cleaning labourers in private households in Vienna, who predominantly operate in the informal economy. Our results suggest that undeclared domestic work via online plat‐forms is associated with increased power gaps between workers and clients as well as changing working conditions to the detriment of cleaners. Specifically, three recurring themes could be identified: reserve army mechanisms; lookism, objectification, and sexual harassment; and information asymmetry and control.

Understanding the Hidden Emotional Labour of Migrant Women Doing Domestic Cleaning Work in England

Abstract This essay explores the emotional labour of women migrants working as domestic cleaners in a small city in England. Drawing on qualitative data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, the essay foregrounds the narratives of a group whose perspectives have not been widely captured. In order to provide a good service, cleaners in the sample modified and mobilised their emotions, conveying friendliness and expressing empathy when faced with clients’ vulnerabilities. Framing domestic cleaning as relational, ‘intimate labour’ allows a better understanding of the role of migrant women in providing practical and emotional care. The analysis contributes to studies of migrant emotionality by situating cleaners’ emotional labour in the context of their transnational lives.

Antropólogas feministas frente a la pandemia en México

In Mexico, on March 8th, 2020, thousands of feminists went out to the streets to protest against feminicides, gender and sexual violence, disappearances, and other injustices. Some days after we were obligated to lockdown in our homes. During the COVID-2020 pandemic, women were in the first line of the crisis, particularly, indigenous, Afro-descendant, poor, lesbian, trans, domestic workers women, cleaners, cookers, caregivers and many who live in the day.       In this article, we will analyze the context of the health and social emergency that is not a current crisis, but a long time process, and that worsened with the disaster of the pandemic. In this sense, what are the challenges of feminist anthropologists face some policies that proclaim a supposed equality but that strongly affect women, depoliticize feminisms, and promote mega projects and extractivisms? How can we challenge the inconceivable government budget cuts that directly affected projects such as “Casas de la Mujer Indígena o Afromexicana” (Cami), gender alerts, health, and education? We will reflect from feminist anthropologies approaches on the implications of this process in a sexist, racist, class, dispossession, and extractivist context.

Maternal occupational exposures and fetal growth in a Spanish birth cohort.

While the epidemiologic literature suggests certain maternal occupational exposures may be associated with reduced measures of size at birth, the occupational literature employing fetal biometry data to assess fetal growth is sparse. The present study examines associations between maternal occupational exposures and ultrasound-measured fetal growth. We included 1,739 singleton pregnancies from the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) project (2003-2008). At 32 weeks of pregnancy, interviewers ascertained mothers’ employment status and assessed job-related physical loads, work schedules, and job strain during pregnancy. Job titles were linked to a job-exposure matrix to estimate exposure to 10 endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) groups. We calculated z-scores from longitudinal growth curves representing trajectories from 0-12, 12-20 and 20-34 gestational weeks for abdominal circumference (AC), biparietal diameter (BPD), femur length (FL), and estimated fetal weight (EFW). Linear mixed models clustered by IMNA region (i.e., Gipuzkoa, Sabadell, Valencia) were used to examine associations between occupational exposures and fetal growth. Effect estimates are presented as percentage change in fetal growth. There was limited evidence of associations between work-related non-chemical stressors and fetal growth. We observed associations of similar magnitude between multiple EDC groups and decreased EFW trajectories during 20-34 gestational weeks (phthalates: -1.4% [-3.5, 0.6%]; alkylphenolic compounds (APCs): -1.1% [-2.3, 0.1%]; miscellaneous chemicals: -1.5% [-3.7, 0.8%]), while miscellaneous chemicals were associated with increased BPD from 12-20 weeks (2.1% [0.8, 3.5%]). Notably, 67% of women exposed to phthalates were hairdressers; 68% of women exposed to APCs worked as domestic cleaners. In conclusion, we found limited evidence that maternal occupational exposures impact fetal growth. Further research should consider the combined impact of multiple workplace exposures.

Identifying cleaning products associated with short-term work-related respiratory symptoms: A workforce-based study in domestic cleaners.

Domestic cleaners have an increased risk of asthma-like and other respiratory symptoms and conditions. Uncertainty exists about which products are most hazardous. We aimed to investigate, among professional domestic cleaners, the associations of ocular/respiratory outcomes with using specific types of products at work and with the ability to choose their own products. Among domestic cleaners employed by "service vouchers" companies in Belgium, we administered an online questionnaire on ocular/respiratory symptoms (frequency and time relation to workdays), frequency of use of 40 types of products, and ability to choose one's own products. Work-relatedness was defined as symptoms improving/disappearing on days off-work. We studied associations between frequency of product-use with work-related outcomes (eye irritation, rhinitis symptoms, sore throat, laryngeal symptoms, asthma symptoms, cough) and with chronic bronchitis, using multivariable logistic and elastic net regression. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95%-confidence intervals were obtained per time a product was used per week. Among 1,586 domestic cleaners (99% women), the number of times sprays were used (median 13/week) was significantly associated with all outcomes (ORs between 1.012 and 1.024 per time sprays were used per week). Bleach/disinfectant-containing liquid products were associated with all outcomes, except for laryngeal symptoms (ORs 1.086 to 1.150); ammonia with work-related upper airway symptoms and chronic bronchitis. Cleaners able to choose their own products had fewer work-related eye symptoms (OR 0.728;0.556-0.954), rhinitis (OR 0.735;0.571-0.946) and cough (OR 0.671;0.520-0.865). Using elastic net regression, work-related rhinitis was most strongly associated with mould removal spray (OR 1.108;1.006-1.248), carpet/seat/curtain spray (OR 1.099;1.001-1.304) and ammonia (OR 1.081;1.002-1.372); work-related asthma with carpet/seat/curtain spray (OR 1.103;1.017-1.322), mould removal spray (OR 1.029;0.995-1.199) and drain cleaner (OR 1.023;0.979-1.302). In a large group of domestic cleaners, we documented that cleaning products have a range of adverse respiratory effects. Empowering cleaners to choose their products may reduce the burden of symptoms.

Rheological Studies of Anionic Surfactants in Presence of Urea Derivatives and Monohydric Alcohols at Constant Temperature

Surfactants are adaptable amphiphilic compounds have an especially distinctive polar hydrophilic head and non-polar hydrophilic tail group. The surfactant is extensively used in each walk of life such as care products, domestic cleaners, pharmaceuticals, oil recovery, food handling, and nanotechnologies due to decreasing the interfacial tension,. The Micellization of anionic surfactants such as potassium dodecyl sulphate (KDS), sodium dodecyl sulphate (NaDS), sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (NaDBS) in presence of urea derivatives (2.0 M) in 2.5% alkanol-water systems at constant temperature (35ºC) are measured using the Agla micrometer syringe. The conclusion of this study gives the Critical Micelles Concentration (CMC) values of anionic surfactants decreased with the increase in methyl group of urea derivatives, monohydric alcohols (methanol, propanol butanol) and water systems at 35ºC.

Methods for Increasing the Efficiency of Cleaning the Transfer Device

The article improves the quality of raw cotton by creating a new transfer device structure for the transportation of cotton in long-distance riots, located in the main building of the ginnery. Both foreign and domestic separator cleaners have been studied. Experiments were carried out on prototype transfer device and the results were obtained. The cleaning efficiency was determined by sampling the cotton entering the separator in the moving device and exiting after the inclined vibrating mesh surface installed after the separator.

Use of portable air cleaners to reduce aerosol transmission on a hospital coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ward.

To study the airflow, transmission, and clearance of aerosols in the clinical spaces of a hospital ward that had been used to care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to examine the impact of portable air cleaners on aerosol clearance. Observational study. A single ward of a tertiary-care public hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Glycerin-based aerosol was used as a surrogate for respiratory aerosols. The transmission of aerosols from a single patient room into corridors and a nurses' station in the ward was measured. The rate of clearance of aerosols was measured over time from the patient room, nurses' station and ward corridors with and without air cleaners [ie, portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters]. Aerosols rapidly travelled from the patient room into other parts of the ward. Air cleaners were effective in increasing the clearance of aerosols from the air in clinical spaces and reducing their spread to other areas. With 2 small domestic air cleaners in a single patient room of a hospital ward, 99% of aerosols could be cleared within 5.5 minutes. Air cleaners may be useful in clinical spaces to help reduce the risk of acquisition of respiratory viruses that are transmitted via aerosols. They are easy to deploy and are likely to be cost-effective in a variety of healthcare settings.

Sensing the (in)visible: domestic cleaning and cleaners on Mumsnet Talk

ABSTRACT Based on a thematic analysis of 7,569 posts on the online parenting forum Mumsnet Talk, in this article we examine how domestic cleaning—one of the most invisible aspects of reproductive labour—and the people who perform it are made visible. We conceptualize Mumsnet discussions as a “visibility sensor:” a technological and affective space that captures, analyses and relays information and feelings in ways that contribute to visibilizing cleaning labour and sensitizing its users to recognize the women they employ to clean their homes. At the same time, our analysis highlights the limitations of this sensor: how the visibility Mumsnet discussions afford to cleaning and cleaners tends to reinscribe its meanings within a gendered and individualized logic. This mediated visibility mostly fails to expose the systemic structures that produce and sustain the invisibility of cleaning and cleaners, and does little to sensitize participants to the ways in which their own lives are shaped by patriarchy. The article contributes to the growing feminist scholarship examining how gender and class come into public visibility through social media platforms and the “digital mamaspehere,” and the implications of this visibility for the configuration and reconfiguration of power relations.

Mental wellbeing among Hispanic female domestic cleaners

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to examine the mental wellbeing of self-employed, Hispanic female domestic cleaners in San Antonio, Texas.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional pilot study and administered a short questionnaire to 56 participants. Mental wellbeing was assessed using The World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5). We calculated the age-adjusted prevalence of poor mental wellbeing, both overall and stratified by socioeconomic, neighborhood, and health characteristics.ResultsAlmost half of the participants screened positive for poor mental wellbeing (47.3%) with a mean WHO-5 score of 68.9 [standard error (SE) = 3.1]. We observed a high prevalence of poor mental wellbeing among participants with less than a high school education (56.0%), who worked less than 30 h per week (57.0%) and who sometimes or always felt unsafe at her cleaning job (69.1%).ConclusionsFemale domestic cleaners, particularly those who work in the informal sector, are an overburdened and understudied population. This is particularly true regarding their mental wellbeing, which has largely been considered as an afterthought in epidemiologic studies of cleaning workers in general. Our results suggest that this group of domestic cleaners faces several psychosocial stressors, both in and outside of the workplace, and may have a high risk of poor mental health outcomes.

Job hazards and respiratory symptoms in Hispanic female domestic cleaners

The occupational hazards and respiratory symptoms of domestic cleaners in USA are largely unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 56 Hispanic female domestic cleaner on their health status and frequency of cleaning products used and tasks performed. While women used multi-use products (60.0%) and toilet bowl cleaners (51.8%) most days of the week, many (39.3%) reported not using personal protective equipment while cleaning. Itchy/watery eyes (61.8%) and itchy nose (56.4%) were the most frequently reported symptoms. A history of physician-diagnosed asthma was reported by 14.3% while 33.9% had symptoms of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR). In conclusion, this vulnerable population has high prevalence of physician-diagnosis asthma and BHR symptoms and is potentially exposed to myriad occupational hazards. Further research exploring associations between products use, cleaning tasks and respiratory symptoms is warranted.

Intellectual Property Aspects of Robotics

The field of robotics is remarkably wide, with many social settings now entailing and increasingly requiring the use of robots to support a variety of human activities. Unsurprisingly, robots’ form and shape, their level of intelligence and intended purpose can vary significantly depending on the relevant industry.1 Domestic robots are already a reality in a growing number of family homes. They include both humanoid robots which support those in need (such as the elderly, people with disabilities or children) and robots for household consumer markets, including domestic vacuum cleaners and grass-trimmers. Humanoid robots only account for a small fraction of the industry, with robotic arms for industrial automation being instead widespread.2

Exposure to Upper Arm Elevation During Work Compared to Leisure Among 12 Different Occupations Measured with Triaxial Accelerometers.

Regarding prevention of neck and shoulder pain (NSP), unsupported arm elevation is one factor that should be taken into account when performing work risk assessment. Triaxial accelerometers can be used to measure arm elevation over several days but it is not possible to differentiate between supported and unsupported arm elevation from accelerometers only. Supported arm elevation is more likely to exist during sitting than standing. The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of whole workday measurements of arm elevation with accelerometers to assess potentially harmful work exposure of arm elevation, by comparing arm elevation at work with arm elevation during leisure, in a population with diverse work tasks, and to assess how the exposure parameters were modified when upper arm elevation during sitting time was excluded. The participants, 197 workers belonging to 12 occupational groups with diverse work tasks, wore triaxial accelerometers on the dominant arm, hip, and back for 1–4 days to measure arm elevation and periods of sitting. None of the groups were found to have higher exposure to arm elevation during work compared to leisure. Even though some occupations where known to have work tasks that forced them to work with elevated arms to a large extent. A high proportion of arm elevation derived from sitting time, especially so during leisure. When arm elevation during sitting time was excluded from the analysis, arm elevation was significantly higher at work than during leisure among construction workers, garbage collectors, manufacturing workers, and domestic cleaners. Together this illustrates that it is not suitable to use whole workday measurments of arm elevation with accelerometer as a sole information source when assessing the risk for NSP due to arm elevation. Information on body posture can provide relevant contextual information in exposure assessments when it is known that the potential harmful exposure is performed in standing or walking.

¿Nuevas criadas y porteras en París?: reactivación de los campos sociales transnacionales de la emigración española tras la crisis económica

Este artículo analiza la migración de mujeres españolas a Francia tras la crisis económica de 2008, desde la perspectiva de la reactivación de los campos transnacionales, que se han ido construyendo históricamente entre ambos países. Muestra cómo los nichos ocupacionales generizados, que ocuparon las mujeres que migraron a París en los años 50-70 (bonnes à tout faire o criadas, empleadas de hogar, niñeras, porteras, limpiadoras) se están renovando, a raíz de la recesión, por la reactivación de los campos transnacionales, construidos a través de las redes sociales tejidas por las diferentes corrientes migratorias El texto señala como estos campos transnacionales se cruzan con las cadenas globales de producción y reproducción, en términos de reorganización patriarcal del mercado de trabajo y de la fuerza laboral, de tal manera que la crisis económica ha traído consigo un reforzamiento de los canales tradicionales de reproducción social a través de los yacimientos laborales generizados.

Empowering Domestic Workers: A Critical Analysis of the Belgian Service Voucher System

Domestic cleaners lack bargaining power, which can prevent them from being in control of their work quality. The ‘service voucher system’ is expected to change the power position of domestics. This is expected because the system is formalized by the Belgian government and organized through a triangular employment relationship between the domestic, the service voucher company (the employer), and the customers. This study draws on 42 interviews with immigrant and native service voucher cleaners. It probes into how the employment relationship with the company affects the domestics’ perceived power to bargain with customers about determinants of the work quality. Based on the results, policy recommendations are made to further empower domestic cleaners in the relationship with their customers and to help them safeguard their work quality.

A-26 家庭用空気清浄機によるホルムアルデヒド(HCHO)除去性能の評価に関する研究 : (その1)化学物質除去基本性能評価用試験装置の性能について

A-26 家庭用空気清浄機によるホルムアルデヒド(HCHO)除去性能の評価に関する研究 : (その1)化学物質除去基本性能評価用試験装置の性能について

B-26 家庭用空気清浄機の汚染物質除去性能と室内濃度予測法に関する研究(第2報)

B-26 家庭用空気清浄機の汚染物質除去性能と室内濃度予測法に関する研究(第2報)