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Abstract

This is an investigation on the interaction between the subjective and objective occupational conditions in affecting the overall health of women workers in industries that have accommodated information technology. The sample consisted of 23 establishments and 630 women respondents. Results show that the most prevalent issues among workers in the electronics industry included the need to upgrade skills, repetitive and fast paced work, pressure at work, and work that entailed both physically and mentally demanding tasks. It was found that the overall good physical health of the workers was affected by these factors: overtime, mental work, close monitoring, medium industries, poor quality of work, and hazardous work (P.=0.05). Meanwhile, heavy physical workload, awkward positions, long hours of standing, tasks that produce pressure, pressure at work, limited rest breaks and low participation in benchmarking were variables found to be associated with body pains (P.=0.05). On the other hand, workers in the electronics industry with poor quality of work and exposure to hazards faced a higher risk of deafness. The same risk was also present among those that do have health and safety policies, and fair regular benefits (P.=0.05). The study has shown that work in the 21st century in spite of being Information-Technology (IT) intensive is still beset with work and health issues. Contrary to the belief that IT is light and stimulating, assembly line workers have reported rather issues in both objective and subjective occupational conditions affecting their health.

Author Biography

Jinky Leilanie Lu, Ph.D., is a Research Associate Professor of the National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines, Manila. She has published articles in international journals, a book author, and is active on gender, occupational and environmental health, and global health issues related to women.

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