Informal workplaces and their comparative effects on the health of street vendors and home-based garment workers in Yangon, Myanmar: a qualitative study
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Other UBC
department or school: Non UBC
department or school: Asian Research, Institute of
data provider: DSpace
identifier citation: BMC Public Health. 2020 Apr 19;20(1):524
contributor: University of British Columbia. School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
rights copyright: The Author(s)
creator: Ko Ko, Thant
creator: Dickson-Gomez, Julia
creator: Yasmeen, Gisèle
creator: Han, Wai Wai
creator: Quinn, Katherine
creator: Beyer, Kirsten
creator: Glasman, Laura
issued: 2020-04-22T00:04:55Z
issued: 2020-04-19
description: Background: Globally, two billion workers are employed informally but there is limited research on the relationship between informal work and health. Existing studies have focused on informality as an employment condition, with little emphasis on the diversity of physical and social contexts in which informal work takes place. The study considers the diversity of informal workplaces and explores the ways in which this diversity might influence health and well-being of two informal occupational groups in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar. Methods: We conducted 21 field observations and 47 semi-structured interviews with street vendors and home-based garment workers based in Yangon, Myanmar. A constant comparative method was used to identify and compare how the physical characteristics of their informal workplaces affect their health for these two informal subgroups. Results: Although both street vendors and home-based garment workers work informally, their exposure to occupational health and income risks are specific to the physical features of their informal workplaces. Street vendors, who work in public spaces with minimal coverage, are more likely to experience the direct effects of outdoor pollution, inclement weather and ergonomic risks from lifting, carrying and transporting heavy merchandise while home-based garment workers, many of whom live and work in unsanitary housing and deprived neighborhoods, are more likely to experience pollution in or near their homes, and ergonomic risks from poor posture. Similarly, although both groups face safety challenges, street vendors face urban violence and abuse during their commute and at vending points whereas home-based garment workers felt unsafe in their home-based workplaces due to the presence of crime and violence in their neighborhoods. Conclusion: While informal employment is universally characterized by lack of social protection, exposure to occupational health and income risks for subpopulations of informa…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/74103
note: RESEARCH ARTICLE Open AccessInformal workplaces and their comparativeeffects on the health of street vendors andhome-based garment workers in Yangon,Myanmar: a qualitative studyThant Ko Ko1*, Julia Dickson-Gomez1, Gisèle Yasmeen2, Wai Wai Han3, Katherine Quinn4, Kirsten Beyer1 andLaura Glasman4AbstractBackground: Globally, two billion workers are employed informally but there is limited research on the relationshipbetween informal work and health. Existing studies have focused on informality as an employment condition, withlittle emphasis on the diversity of physical and social contexts in which informal work takes place. The studyconsiders the diversity of informal workplaces and explores the ways in which this diversity might influence healthand well-being of two informal occupational groups in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.Methods: We conducted 21 field observations and 47 semi-structured interviews with street vendors and home-based garment workers based in Yangon, Myanmar. A constant comparative method was used to identify andcompare how the physical characteristics of their informal workplaces affect their health for these two informalsubgroups.Results: Although both street vendors and home-based garment workers work informally, their exposure tooccupational health and income risks are specific to the physical features of their informal workplaces. Streetvendors, who work in public spaces with minimal coverage, are more likely to experience the direct effects ofoutdoor pollution, inclement weather and ergonomic risks from lifting, carrying and transporting heavymerchandise while home-based garment workers, many of whom live and work in unsanitary housing anddeprived neighborhoods, are more likely to experience pollution in or near their homes, and ergonomic risks frompoor posture. Similarly, although both groups face safety challenges, street vendors face urban violence and abuseduring their commute and at vending points whereas home-based garment work…
has type: Article
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0389906
language: eng
peer review status: Reviewed
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: BioMed Central
publisher DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-08624-6
rights: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
scholar level: Faculty
subject: Informal employment
subject: Occupational health and safety
subject: Urban safety
subject: Social determinant of health
subject: Employment relations
subject: Workforce
subject: Low and middle income country
subject: Myanmar
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74103