How Does Unsafe Working Conditions Impact the World?
And the unintended domino effect it can have?
With the Covid 19 Pandemic, the working world as we’ve known it has forever changed. From moving towards remote work to millions losing their jobs, the Pandemic has truly shaken society as we know it, and not in a good way. However, this is only looking at these changes from the perspective of a first-world country. If this is how horrifically the pandemic has impacted a first-world country, imagine the impact it’s having on second and third-world countries. Even before Covid 19, many countries and areas haven’t had access to clean drinkable water, one example being in Peru and other smaller cities in larger South American Countries.
Drinkable water was not the only pre pandemic issue second and third world countries had to endure. After pulling data from databanks on the World Development Indicators website from the years 2002 to 2019, right before the pandemic, in Latin and South American countries the amount of the population that even then were forced to work in unsafe working conditions or fell into the vulnerable employment category was astounding; However, how does one define vulnerable employment? The International Labor Orginiation, or ILO, describes it as those less likely to have formal work arrangements. This means they are more likely to lack suitable or decent working conditions, and less likely to have a voice or social security through groups such as unions. It can also be describes as inadequate earnings, as well as difficult work conditions that don’t always provide their workers with fundamental rights.
Each of the following three graphs has been split into the percentage of the male, female and overall percentage of those who are in vulnerable employment. The data here shows that in some places such as Colombia, Peru and Ecuador the percentage of those who fall under the category of having vulnerable employment are over 50% of the population- and this is only the data pre-pandemic. Even with the rest of the data, there is not a single country listed where under 20 percent of the population has been forced into unsafe working conditions. If the overall numbers show this dire of a situation in a time before the pandemic, imagine the amount of people forced to have vulnerable employment now, post pandemic. These are already people struggling on a day to day basis just to live, and are already working in unsafe conditions. Harvard posted a story in 2021, during the pandemic, where it was found that 1.3 million people had died because of Covid, sending Latin America into a recession as well. It was also stated that during the pandemic, many strict Covid regulations were put in place, but because so many low income families were in bad working conditions they still had to go to work, contributing to a decent percentage of the deaths due to Covid.
Regarding the number of global deaths due to Covid, and the inability to stay home as well as still being forced into these enviroments where one lacks voice or any rights, it unfortunately leaves the world in an almost dire situation. These conditions would cause even more to die during the pandemic, and with the number of deaths rising that leaves less people able to work. Without those able to work and the large amount of the working population making inadequate earnings this inevitably damages a countries economy horrifically, which could potentially even lead to a global recession. Considering the data above, it implies about 20% of the population couldn’t stay home from work to comply with Covid regulations due to their employment situation. That means 20% of the population is at risk for exposing the rest of the population to Covid, which thus causes more deaths, However, with safer working conditions people would be able to stay home if they did have Covid so they would be able to recover, thus saving the livers of others, especially the imunocomprimised. Unsafe and unfair working conditions act as a domino effect, which is exactly why this absolutely has to change.
Though the initial data was only pulled from some countries and places from Latin America, the overall concept of unsafe working conditions and violations to workers rights having a potential domino effect is a far larger and more universal issue. We need to recognize as those living in a First world country how lucky we are but most importantly we need to be spreading awareness about the impact vulnerable employment has on low income workers and families. Livable wage is a fundamental human right all should have, as well as the ability to stay home from work, especially when it can save lives potentially. Working conditions need to change, and they need to change soon before it’s too late.
Sources: Dcomm. (2010, January 26). Vulnerable employment and poverty on the rise, interview with ILO chief of employment trends unit. Vulnerable employment and poverty on the rise, Interview with ILO chief of Employment Trends Unit. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/mission-and-objectives/features/WCMS_120470/lang--en/index.htm
Mineo, L. (2021, July 28). How the pandemic has affected Latin America. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/07/how-the-pandemic-has-affected-latin-america/
