Restricted Occupations

Abstract

In reviewing the conditions of work for women in the period following the October revolution the Bolsheviks discussed the question of restricting the employment of female labour in tasks which were considered to be too heavy or difficult and were considered to be injurious to women’s health. Narkomtrud was given the responsibility for drawing up a list of jobs in which the employment of women should be prohibited. The list of restricted occupations formed the basis for controls on the environmental and climatic conditions of female employment and included, for example, jobs which involved working with harmful industrial substances (such as lead, mercury, phosphorus, tobacco, arsenic, benzene), with noxious gases and chemicals or in excessively hot or cold temperatures. A shorter working day was introduced for those employed in exceptionally difficult or harmful tasks and workers in these jobs in practice often received higher rates of pay.