More women than men diagnosed with work-related illnesses

Photo: Panther Media / Scanpix

Last year 143 women and 86 men were diagnosed with occupational diseases in Estonia, with highest health disorder rates observed among shop assistants, cooks, sewing machine operators and cleaners.

Women simply turn to a doctor sooner, chief specialist at the Labor Inspectorate's work environment department Silja Soon said. "Women feel greater responsibility and perhaps are more likely to reckon that the quicker they react to their problems the sooner they'll get help," she said.

Broken down by occupations, disorders caused by work were most frequent among cooks, shop assistants, stock farmers and cleaners, and occupational diseases among sewing machine operators, stock farmers, farm machinery operators and shop assistants. The common denominator for all those occupations is working in a forced position, monotonous work or lifting and moving heavy objects.

Among occupational hazards that have led to illnesses repeated stereotypic movements and an incorrect working position play the biggest role. Occupational diseases caused by noise and vibration are on the decline.