Health and Nutritional Status of Working Women in Coimbatore and their Exposure to Occupational Hazards

Abstract

Working women today constitute 22.7 per cent of the total population of India as against 51.5 per cent of the male workers and most of them are expected to be in the reproductive age period. Every occupation is associated with specific health hazards and this calls for different priorities and Occupational Health Services (OHS). The Joint International Labour Organization and World Health Organization Committee stress that "Occupational Health should aim at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social wellbeing of workers of all occupations". The major categories of occupational hazards for workers are chemical, physical and biological agents, psychosocial factors and occupational accidents.