Vilanilam J V
Int J Health Serv. 1980;10(2):233-49. doi: 10.2190/NBML-V4Q3-UEYV-PFT9.
Workers in poor countries of the so-called Third World are more likely to be affected by the dangers of high technology than their counterparts in wealthier countries. Owing to their lack of education, most workers in the "developing" world are unaware of the hazards of their occupations. Moreover, their general backwardness in sanitation and nutrition and climatic proneness of their geographic region to epidemics cause diseases contracted from the work environment to be aggravated. occupational diseases are often misconstrued as diseases resulting from the general environment. Since unemployment in underdeveloped countries is of a very high order, workers are prepared to accept any job, irrespective of the dangers involved. Labor is cheap and easily replaceable, so employers see no need for improving occupational safety and health. Labor unions are mostly controlled by full-time politicians who consider health a political issue, especially when their party controls the country's government. The seriousness of all these factors is heightened by the existing socioeconomic order in poor countries, in which national medievalism and multinational modernism play a crucial role. In order to understand the prevailing socioeconomic order, one has to analyze the social structures of poor countries in the context of today's world economic structure. India is taken as an example of a "developing" country where all the above-mentioned factors and many others are in operation: backwardness of the worker; poor nutrition; lack of concern for public health; proneness to epidemics; and indifference on the part of employers, politicians, and unions toward occupational health; high unemployment, control of the local economy by multinational corporations; and control of the mass media by feudalistic vested interests. This article attempts to analyze the occupational health and safety issue in India from a historical perspective, and stresses the vital need of structural changes in various fields so that workers can have a safe and healthy working environment.
在所谓的第三世界贫困国家，工人比富裕国家的同行更容易受到高科技危害的影响。由于缺乏教育，“发展中”世界的大多数工人并未意识到其职业的危险性。此外，他们在卫生和营养方面普遍落后，且其所在地理区域气候易于引发流行病，这使得从工作环境感染的疾病更加严重。职业病常常被误解为由一般环境导致的疾病。由于欠发达国家的失业率极高，工人们愿意接受任何工作，而不顾其中涉及的危险。劳动力廉价且易于替换，因此雇主认为没有必要改善职业安全与健康状况。工会大多由全职政治家控制，他们将健康视为一个政治问题，尤其是当他们所在的政党控制着国家政府时。贫困国家现有的社会经济秩序加剧了所有这些因素的严重性，在这种秩序中，国家的中世纪特征和跨国公司的现代特征起着关键作用。为了理解当前的社会经济秩序，人们必须在当今世界经济结构的背景下分析贫困国家的社会结构。印度被作为一个“发展中”国家的例子，上述所有因素以及许多其他因素都在该国存在：工人的落后；营养不良；对公共卫生缺乏关注；易于引发流行病；雇主、政治家和工会对职业健康的冷漠；高失业率；跨国公司对当地经济的控制；以及封建既得利益集团对大众媒体的控制。本文试图从历史角度分析印度的职业健康与安全问题，并强调在各个领域进行结构变革的迫切需要，以便工人们能够拥有一个安全健康的工作环境。
