Female Garment Workers Research Articles

The role of socio-hygienic factors in the occurrence of respiratory diseases in female garment workers

The incidence of nonspecific respiratory diseases among female workers of a sewing firm was studied. The certificates of incapacity for work for 6 years and medical cards of the outpatient were analyzed. Based on objective information, verified diagnoses, a group of women suffering from chronic nonspecific lung diseases was singled out. Healthy, fully able-bodied persons without chronic diseases were selected as a control group by the copy-pair method. In order to reveal the role of socio-hygienic factors in the origin of respiratory diseases, particularly of chronic nonspecific lung diseases, and to work out measures for their prevention we questioned 1113 female workers according to a questionnaire which was proposed by the All-Russian Institute of Pulmonology under the USSR Ministry of Health and adjusted to specific conditions of production and everyday life. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions describing housing and living conditions, work and rest conditions, bad habits, etc. Men did not participate in the survey, as their share in the total number of employees at the firm was not more than 10%. The survey materials were supplemented by objective data of the city sanitary and epidemiological station on the study of the working environment.

Soft tissue disorders in the upper limbs of female garment workers.

In this cross-sectional investigation of female garment workers the prevalence of soft tissue disorders of the hands and arms was studied. The findings were compared with the prevalence of disorders in a group of female hospital employees not required to use repetitive hand motion. One hundred and eighty-eight garment workers and 76 hospital employees were surveyed by questionnaire and physical examination. The prevalences of persistent shoulder, wrist, and hand pain were significantly greater among the garment workers (rate ratio 2, 4, and 3, respectively). In both groups about 60% of the persistent hand pain was consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome (rate ratio 3). These associations held when the comparisons were stratified by age and by length of employment. Workers whose native language was not English were significantly less likely to report symptoms (rate ratio 0.6). Workers in hand sewing and trimming suffered especially high prevalences of persistent pain in all upper limb sites. Stitchers had elevated rates of pain in the shoulders, wrists, and hands. Workers ironing by hand had a significant elevation in elbow pain rates. Garment assembly tasks appear to be associated with cumulative trauma of the hands and wrists; the biomechanical features of these jobs should be studied in greater detail.

Socio-Economic Conditions of Female Garment Workers in Chittagong Metropolitan Area – An Empirical Study

This paper is an endeavor to depict the conditions of the female workers from two perspectives. One is social perspective and the other is economic perspective. The analysis is based on the survey of 151 female workers of 29 garment industrial units located in different parts of Chittagong Metropolitan area. This study suggests that the standard of living of the female garment workers is still in precarious condition and they are not free from the vicious circle of poverty and face extreme difficulties in obtaining their basic needs for survival even. This paper recommends measures for improving the prevailing socio-economic facilities, to a great extent, to achieve female workers’ satisfaction at the maximum level. Key Words: Female Garments Workers; Social Factors; Economic Factors.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbt.v5i2.9935 Journal of Technology (Dhaka) Vol. 5(2), July-December, 2010 53-70

Study on the Acceptance of Contraceptive Devices Among Married Female Workers of a Garments Factory of Dhaka City

Over the last decade, the number of garments factories in Bangladesh had increased and employed around 1.5 million women, most of them in their reproductive age, therefore, desired family size and child spacing influenced contraceptive prevalence among the married women.This cross sectional study was conducted in Chancellor Garments Factory, Rayer Bazar, Dhaka, to find out the acceptance of contraceptive methods among the married female workers.Out of 121 workers interviewed, the knowledge of respondents on contraceptive methods was found adequate in 83.47%, some knowledge in 15.70% and no knowledge in 0.83%. 27.5% respondents acquired their knowledge from clinics and 25.83% from health workers. Only 13.22% respondents had the knowledge on non contraceptive uses of condom and 50% of them got this knowledge from radio and television. Of the 88.43% respondents who used contraceptive devices, maximum number used oral pill (57.94%) and only 0.93% used condom. Among the non users of contraceptive methods, 28.56% did not use because their husbands did not agree. Among the contraceptive users, 90.65% had consent of both the partners and 2.8% had the desire of their husbands only.Low income, lack of motivation by health workers, lack of information on contraception, less accessibility and availability of devices, cost of the devices, side effects, misconception, etc. have the impact on the contraceptive acceptance among the female garments workers. Key words: Married female workers, Garments factory, Acceptance of contraceptive method. DOI: 10.3329/bjpp.v24i1.5731Bangladesh J Physiol Pharmacol 2008; 24(1&2) : 10-13

Harassment of women garment workers in Bangladesh

The study analyzed the different factors that are responsible for the harassment of women garment workers in Bangladesh. Three garment factories from Mirpur area under Dhaka district were selected purposively where garment factories are available. The sample consisted of 90 women workers taking 30 randomly from each of the three garment factories. Female workers are mostly employed at the lower category of jobs like operator, finishing helper, polyer etc. These jobs are very monotonous in nature. Because of the nature of their jobs, female workers sometimes lose interest in work and become depressed. A large number of female workers received low and irregular wages which create their job dissatisfaction. Only 22 female workers earned salary between Tk. 2700 to Tk. 3000 per month. Female workers are sexually harassed by their co-workers in the factory or by police or by mastans in the street. Communication problem is a major problem faced by most of the female garment workers. A long distance travel is not only physical strenuous but also mentally stressful. Their overtime rate is very low. Long working hours result in a number of illnesses and diseases like headache, eye trouble, ear ache, musculoskeletal pain etc. Women are exploited easily due to lack of technical knowledge and training. The employers do not pay any heed to this exploitation. Keywords: Garment industry; Women workers; Harassment DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v8i2.7940 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(2): 291-296, 2010