title: Work organisation and gender among hospital cleaners in Quebec after the merger of 'light' and 'heavy' work classifications.
abstract: In Québec, Canada, cleaning tasks were once divided into 'light' or 'heavy' cleaning, assigned respectively to women and men. These categories are being merged; in principle, both genders are assigned the same tasks. Activity analysis using observations and interviews examined work activity of male and female cleaners in two hospitals. In one hospital, work activity could be compared before (time 1) and after the work reorganisation (time 2). Some gender segregation of tasks appeared to have persisted at time 2, in both hospitals. Some route assignments contained components that were difficult for all cleaners, especially women of average strength. Only about one-third of the recommendations for improvement made at time 1 had been carried out by time 2, 12 years later. In a low-status job, it may be hard to meet equality, health and efficiency goals because commitment to improving equipment and worksite design may be lacking.
  Current attempts to desegregate jobs should be accompanied by attention to physical job demands in order to protect employee health and access to equal employment. The study also shows the need to follow up ergonomic interventions, particularly in low-status jobs such as cleaning, where recommendations can be forgotten.
authors.affiliation: CINBIOSE , Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3P8.
authors.forename: Bénédicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Calvet
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Riel
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Couture
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Messing
mesh_terms: D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006797:Housekeeping, Hospital / Q000145:classification* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis