Understanding the Limitations of Employer Prevention Programs in Transnational Settings: A Case Study of Women Workers in Canadian-Owned Maquiladoras in Honduras

Due to the failure of current studies of ergonomics programs in transnational factories in Honduras to adequately address the issue of prevention, this study examines how the production process in Canadian-owned factories operating in Honduras mitigate against primary and secondary prevention measures. Using a feminist lens and drawing on grounded theory, this study is based on interviews with seven Honduran women workers suffering from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and seven key informants knowledgeable about women’s health experiences in maquiladoras. The key themes discussed are: failure or inadequacy of primary prevention; production quotas as a physical and psychological workplace hazard; treatment from company management; injured workers remaining on the assembly line; and ways of facilitating immediate and systematic changes to reduce exposure to occupational hazards in the maquiladoras. The study found that ergonomic programs have failed to adequately address the risk factors and processes that lead to the development of WMSDs.