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This paper explores workers' experiences and understandings of occupational health hazards in the electronics industries of northern Thailand. Women form the bulk of the lower-level workforce as operators responsible for assembling the parts that make up microchip components. Drawing data from 16 months of research in workers' dormitories, formal and informal interviews and questionnaire surveys, in this paper I explore how gender relations are central to the organization and experience of work in these industries. I identify 'work process' health hazards resulting from the physical working environment, and 'workplace' health hazards relating to the organizational and social pressures of the working environment. Musculoskeletal pain, eye strain, chemical exposure, stress, improper use of safety equipment and accidents all impact upon women workers' health. Additionally, risk behaviors such as amphetamine and alcohol use, and unprotected sex, are associated with the social context of factory work. KEYWORDS. Gender, work, occupational health, electronics, Thailand

Physical workload [muscular load of the trapezius and infraspinatus muscles using electromyography (EMG), wrist positions and movements by electrogoniometers] and neck and upper limb disorders (from, for example, a physical examination) were studied in women with repetitive industrial work (n = 95) and referents (n = 74). The repetitive work displayed higher ratings for wrist movements, but not for EMG. The prevalences of neck, shoulder and wrist/hand disorders were elevated for women with repetitive work [age-adjusted prevalence odds ratios (PORs) 2.0-7.5]. For the left hand, high frequency of wrist movements (mean power frequency 0.53 Hz) was associated with a high prevalence of disorders (56%), as compared to low (0.28 Hz and 26%; POR 3.5). We found no consistent and significant effect of muscular load, on either neck or shoulder disorders. However, selection and other bias may have diminished our possibility to observe such effects. Psychosocial work environment factors were not confounding the results. Measurements of wrist movements may be used for identification of high-risk work tasks. Keywords: Physical workload; Musculoskeletal disorders; Exposure/response relations

We examine factors that influence accident proneness among employees. We agree that the determinants of accident proneness include organizational, emotional and personal factors. Using logistic regression we estimated three models, and their predictability for accident proneness among sample of 200 injured workers interviewed upon entering hospital emergency wards in Israel. Work injuries were not contingent on age, religion, nor education. The effects of gender were strong but non-significant. Subcontracted and higher-paid workers are more likely to get repeat injuries. Prior injury experience sensitized employees to stronger perceptions of risk associated with unsafe practices. Large family households, ameliorates stress feelings and lessens the likelihood of accident proneness while poor housing conditions have the opposite effect. The full model demonstrates considerable prediction of injuries when focusing on type of employment, personal income level, being involved in dangerous jobs, emotional distress and a poor housing environment. The model contains most of the significant results of interest and provides a high level of predictability for work injuries.

It is recognised that work related shoulder pain is overrepresented among construction workers compared to other occupations. Studies have shown that working with hands above shoulder level increases the shoulder load. Most studies have been confined to the laboratory. The present project was carried out to map the muscular engagement and postures of construction workers undertaking ceiling fitting, and to compare the results to those of the laboratory studies. Two ambulatory devices were used, one allowing recording of electromyographic (EMG) signals bilaterally from the trapezius muscle, and the other to record the position of both arms and back by means of measuring the angles between the vertical line and the back and both upper arms. These recordings were performed during 1.5-2 h work sequences. The results show that the work was mostly performed in an upright position, that both arms were used to a similar amount and that the workers for a large proportion of their working time had their upper arms at levels that are considered harmful in view of shoulder load. The EMG data showed that nearly 50% of the work was spent with trapezius activity that exceeded that of the reference contraction used (about 15% of maximal voluntary contraction) and that the time spent in muscular relaxation was 10%. It was concluded that the exposure of construction workers undertaking ceiling fitting meets the criteria formulated on the basis of laboratory experiments with respect to a high risk of acquiring chronic shoulder pain, due to rotator cuff tendinitis. Keywords: Electromyography; Trapezius muscle; Arm position; Construction work

Overexertion injuries are the single largest classification of injury in construction, accounting for about 24% of all injuries. Overexertion injuries generally occur as a result of performing a given task as planned. While overexertion injuries are not intentional, the underlying causes of these injuries are built into the prescribed tools and work methods. If the causes can be identified, it should be possible to engineer them out of the work. This paper presents a summary of research to investigate 65 construction activities for the presence of risk factors for overexertion injuries. Each activity has been broken into its constituent tasks, and each task has been analyzed for each of seven generic risk factors for overexertion injuries: (1) repetitive exertions; (2) static exertions; (3) forceful exertions; (4) localized mechanical stresses; (5) posture stresses; (6) low temperature; and (7) vibration. Ratings for each risk factor have been made on a three point scale: insignificant, moderate, and high. This analysis shows that virtually all construction activities have moderate-to-high ratings for at least one risk factor, and thereby place craft workers at increased risk for overexertion injuries and disorders.