Theodore Nik, Gutelius Beth, Burnham Linda
1 The University of Illinois at Chicago.
2 National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Workplace Health Saf. 2019 Jan;67(1):9-17. doi: 10.1177/2165079918785923. Epub 2018 Sep 28.
Informally employed domestic workers encounter a range of workplace hazards, though these have been poorly documented and are typically left unacknowledged. Safety concerns include exposure to toxic cleaning products, a high prevalence of ergonomic injuries, and inadequate access to medical care. Presenting the results of an in-person survey of 2,086 informally employed nannies, housecleaners, and caregivers in 14 U.S. cities, this article documents the range of common health and safety hazards faced by domestic workers and suggests some interventions that could improve their working conditions. The survey was conducted in nine languages and data were collected from workers from 71 countries, including a substantial proportion with irregular immigration status. We observed that substandard workplace health and safety conditions are shaped by three aspects of domestic work: long-standing exclusions from federal employment protections, the common disregard of the home as a workplace, and the complexity of care work and the bonds of intimacy that often form through caregiving. Together these factors have served to perpetuate substandard working conditions. Regulatory reforms, as well as worker and employer education, are necessary to improve health outcomes for domestic workers.
非正规就业的家政工人面临一系列工作场所危害，不过这些危害记录甚少，通常也未得到承认。安全问题包括接触有毒清洁产品、人体工程学损伤高发以及获得医疗服务的机会不足。本文展示了对美国14个城市的2086名非正规就业保姆、家政清洁工和护理员进行的实地调查结果，记录了家政工人面临的一系列常见健康和安全危害，并提出了一些可以改善其工作条件的干预措施。该调查以九种语言进行，数据收集自来自71个国家的工人，其中相当一部分人具有非正规移民身份。我们观察到，不达标的工作场所健康和安全状况是由家政工作的三个方面造成的：长期被排除在联邦就业保护之外、普遍不将家庭视为工作场所、护理工作的复杂性以及护理过程中经常形成的亲密关系。这些因素共同导致了不达标的工作条件长期存在。监管改革以及对工人和雇主的教育对于改善家政工人的健康状况是必要的。
