Women in Soviet Industrial Production in the 1960s-1980s from a Medical Perspective

In the 1960s and 1980s, women accounted for approximately 50% of all workers in the industrial sectors. Labor legislation imposed certain restrictions on the admission of women to professions that are associated with excessive physical exertion and dangers. However, women often worked on a par with men, not only performing hard work, but also being exposed to various harmful factors. It was the doctors who had the opportunity to study and report to the state information on the pathological effect of factory work on women's health. Thus, they had the opportunity to influence public policy in this matter. Health care workers saw the situation from the inside out and were a kind of guides between women workers and the state, providing authorities with information about the situation in the workplace. These views of doctors are the main subject of this study. By studying the actions of various actors involved in protecting the labor and health of women workers, the study compiles a comprehensive picture of their views. The sources used in the work are various periodicals, reports of factory doctors, as well as materials from various research centers of Leningrad. The work helps to compose a picture of the position of women in the workplace, and also opens up further prospects for studying the interaction of state structures and medical workers in this matter.