Occupational Health and Safety of Domestic Workers in Turkey

Abstract

It is seen that there is an increasing demand for domestic work. However, domestic work is often excluded from the scope of national or special regulations. The working conditions related to domestic work is far from decent work conditions since these workers are deemed as worthless and there is a lack of regulations in this field. Despite the high potential for dangers in the domestic work sector, domestic workers are mostly not protected to the same extent as other workers. Domestic workers comprise a significant part of the global workforce in informal economy, and they are among the most vulnerable groups of workers. In Turkey, it is remarkable that the rights of domestic workers in relation with occupational health and safety are not sufficiently protected in terms of both legal legislation and implementation. The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the vulnerability of these workers in the field of occupational health and safety by demonstrating the occupational health and safety risks regarding domestic workers. In our study, first, the term ‘domestic work’ is defined in detail, and then the occupational health and safety issue of domestic workers is examined.