Women face a higher risk of developing health problems as they are under heavy pressure to work harder to make more money, labour advocates say.
Naruemon Klatookwan, a liberal arts lecturer at Walailak University, said her research on workers at an electric appliance factory in Pathum Thani, where most of the workers are women, found production lines were continually being sped up.
The factory operators closely monitored the output of the workers, Ms Naruemon said. If some workers were slow, their colleagues in the next production line had to wait longer, so they risked being criticised.
Their output also corresponded to their earnings, she said.
Ms Naruemon conducted the research last year and her paper received the Wanida Tantiwitthayapitak Award last week.
The award, named after a social activist, is given to academic research at master’s and doctorate levels which benefits poor people. Ms Naruemon said many factories also provided a diligence allowance for workers who declined to take leave.
Some offer an incremental allowance rate in line with the number of months a worker does not take leave.
This caused many workers not to take sick leave even when ill, she said.
According to the research, some workers were forced to work standing up for 10 continuous hours.
They complained about fatigue and took painkillers. She said this was affecting the workers’ long-term health.