Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace

Employees who may worry about the effect of their workplaces on their health often don't know how to find out about the safety of their workplaces and possible health and reproductive hazards. "Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace" aims to aid working women in making important decisions about pregnancy and job-related health problems. It gives women a standard for judging their work situations, shows how they might improve them, and, armed with increased knowledge, how they might seek to improve working conditions for all pregnant women. To enable women to take action, Regina Kenen's book includes: lists of pertinent questions to ask when looking for information regarding risks and hazards; information on relevant legislation; actual cases of pregnant women in the workplace and how they dealt with occupational risks; lists of regulatory agencies, governmental, legal, medical, and voluntary agencies providing information and services regarding environmental health; and suggestions for small, individual, and larger group social action activities. This book provides a combination of technical material, including ergonomics - making the workplace and workstation fit the worker; information about specific hazards in healthcare and service sectors, industry, offices, schools, and in homes; general information on the history of work and women's lives; reproductive hazards for men, women, and children and their biological implications; the impact of stress in the workplace - physical, psychological, and social; and "how to" suggestions - guidelines for judging risks and hazards and social action suggestions. "Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace" aims to foster women's ability to judge scientific data and assess risks. It is intended for pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant in the near future who are now in the workplace and who are concerned about health risks. Union stewards, occupational health and women's health specialists, and personnel department officers of corporations may also find this book to be of assistance in planning programmes for improved occupational health.