Unions and researchers work together to lift a ton of feathers: Gaining recognition for women

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Unions and researchers work together to lift a
ton of feathers Gaining recognition for
womens OHS problems in Québec  
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"L'invisible qui fait mal (Invisible that hurts)

• Partnership between
• the 3 major trade union centrals in Québec,
  represented by their womens committees and
  health and safety committees
• and a multidisciplinary research group
  (ergonomics, law, communications) at the
  Université du Québec à Montréal
• Formal partnership since 1993, supported by
  Québec government funds

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Reasons for the  invisible  partnership

• (1) Understand why women workers report more pain
  and more difficult conditions when they appear to
  have easy, safe jobs
• Sewing machine operators
• Cashiers
• Teachers
• Hotel workers

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Reasons for the  invisible  partnership

• (2) Help produce change
• In the workplace
• In policy
• In compensation

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Women are concentrated in a few sectors, a few
professions

• In Canada, men are 55 of the workforce 30 of
  men are in sales/services or administration/
  finances.
• Women are 45 of the workforce 60 of women are
  in sales/services or administration/ finances.

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Québec research in occupational health, 1999
Proportion of workforce that is female 46
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Priorities for intervention, Québec, 2007
Danger for pregnancy
4.6/1000
17.6/1000
5.9/1000
17.6/1000
13.8/1000
14.6/1000
Sector
1 (construction)
2 (metallurgy)
3 (public admin.)
4 (commerce)
5 (services)
6 (health, educ.)

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15
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42
48
64
inspections, health and safety representation,
committee, action plan, etc.
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Refused claims for musculoskeletal disorders, by
sex, 314 Québec appeals decisions, 1992-1998

• Womens claims more often refused
• (64 vs. 50, p .016, c2 test)

Lippel, 2002
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Risks not recognized
Little research Risks not identified
Prevention not done
Problems erroneously attributed to womens
nature
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Womens physical workload appears lighter
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Vézina, Courville 1990
A ton of feathers
A ton of lead

• Plastics factory labourer
• 51 rolls of plastic _at_ 18 kg, 51 rods _at_ 7.3 kg,
  lifted 2x
• 2597 kg
• Waste 15 kg

• Sewing machine operators
• 1869 pants, 265g
• 1869 hooks, 60g
• lifted many times 2065 kg
• cut thread 1420 kg
• pedal 16821 kg

Total upper limb 2612 kg
Total upper limb 3486 kg - lower limb 16 821 kg
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These women have a hard time when they fall ill

•  Im not lying, I really felt pain .Im telling
  the truth 
• Haitian immigrant sewing machine operator with
  uncompensated MSD

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Prolonged standing - cashiers
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Québec Health and Social Survey, 2000
Pain often or all the time
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Usual working posture, Québec, 1998



significant differences, w/m
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Hotel room cleaners

• Union rep The women are all (85) complaining
  of MSDs but they are mostly over 35. We want to
  know whether there is a reason for their
  complaining.

http//dbacon.igc.org/Work/beverly00.html
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Management

•  The women are complaining but they are refusing
  to use the new ergonomic carts we bought for
  them 
•  They need training by an ergonomist 

• Ana María Seifert, an ergonomist, did a study

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Hotel study

• 146 hours of observations, 2 hotels
• Posture analysis bed making, bathroom cleaning,
  cart handling
• Examine 82 carts weigh, check effort to push,
  check contents, state of repair
• Analyse inspection reports on quality of cleaning
• Check state of linen

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Cleaners cart

• Cart weight 122-154 kg
• Hard to turn

The fear of change these women are ageing
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Why do they  complain ?
Height just right for the average man of European
origin
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Workload bed making

• Source of work accidents and pain
• Mattress lifted 8 13 times
• 67 of the time, back is bent
• Time
• Double bed 3m33s
• King 5m37s
• VIP 8m30s
• More if sheets (26) or pillowcases (34) are
  damaged (outsourcing of laundry)

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Risky tasks

• 90 of cleaning shift is spent cleaning the
  rooms, 13 90 min/room depending on its state,
  type, location.
• Most difficult operations are
• Bed making
• Toilet cleaning
• Cart pushing, handling, turning, tilting
• Together, these three take 60 of cleaners time

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Results

• Recognition for the difficulties led to union
  actions, demonstrations, strike, negotiation of
  union contract (rotating strikes this summer)
• Cleaners assignments decreased from 15 rooms to
  14 or 13 (if two beds)
• Attention to linen problem
• Project to redesign the cart

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A ton of feathers how it all adds up
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Workspeed in elementary schools
Messing et al. 1997
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J. Riel
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Time use in secondary school teaching (87h -J.
Riel)
Teaching (academic) 67
Teaching behaviour 13
Optimal stimulation 9
Academic support 34
Emotional support 12
Preparation, administation 30
Physical environment 16
Other 19
Total 200
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Differences in French teaching between a man and
a woman ( time)

M
W




Emot. support
Teach Behav.
J. Riel
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A ton of feathers

• Workspeed
• Concentration
• Bad air
• Too dry
• Violence
• Lack of support
• Prolonged standing

Elementary school teachers
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Some changes

• Recognition of the hidden workload in traditional
  womens work
• Recognition of importance of womens teamwork
• Some changes in labour contracts
• Training sessions for those who represent workers
  for compensation
• Training for judges
• Improvement in womens rate of compensation for
  MSDs

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Working together we can lift a ton of feathers