Women constitute a large part of the Iranian CARPET weaving population, who usually weave CARPETs at home without an employer and are deprived of compulsory social insurance. The CARPET weaving insurance law passed in 2009 gave them the opportunity to use social insurance, but a group of women CARPET WEAVERS from the suburbs of Tabriz are being studied who, despite their full-time employment, could not enjoy the support of the legislature. Why not having access to the law is the main question. Qualitative method and semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data analysis with thematic method in the intersectional theoretical framework shows that unequal interpersonal and in-group relationships, structural barriers, cultural and ideological justifications, and the disciplinary and administrative regulation in relation to each other have led to the deprivation of these women from labor rights. Women CARPET WEAVERS are marginalized not only because of their gender, but also because of their intertwined status with their location, economic-social class, and age, which even the Iranian legal system seeks to enact laws and regulation to support them, it is not available. The labor law system, with its narrow definition of worker, does not recognize women CARPET WEAVERS as workers and does not provide an appropriate mechanism to ensure their access to labor rights. The authors conclude that the persistence of social inequalities even with the enactment of some protected laws by the legal system, such as CARPET WEAVERS’ insurance will be better understood by the method of intersectional analysis.

Introduction: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the most common compressive neuropathy in occupational medicine. It may be presented with numbness, tingling, and motor weakness of the hand. Repetitive hand finger motions, repeated extreme bending of the wrist as well as forceful gripping, and repeated forces on the base of the palm and wrist are occupational risk factors associated with CTS. This study was conducted to evaluate occupations of patients underwent operation for CTS in Kashan (2001-3).Materials & Methods: 75 subjects with CTS for whom operation had been performed from 2001 to 2003 were studied retrospectively. Age, sex and occupation of the subjects and their address and phone number obtained from hospital records. Additional data on their job types and daily working duration were collected by face-to-face interview.Results: 66 of the patients (88%) were female and 9 (12%) male. Mean age of women was 43±20 years. 64 (97%) of women were CARPET weaver, and 47(71%) of them have worked more than 8 hours per day. They were weaving CARPET for 20±7 years. Seven of the men were labor and their tasks included forceful gripping.Conclusion: According to findings of this study CTS should be considered as a common occupational disease in CARPET WEAVERS. As CARPET weaving is a traditional and common profession in Iran, further researches on relationship between CTS and CARPET weaving is highly recommended.

The aim of this research is assessing CARPET weaver's health needs and designing a model for meeting them. A sample of 1688 CARPET weaver in 8 provinces (Azarbijan, Fars, Kerman, Markazi, Kordestan, Golestan, Mazandaran and Khorasan) has been interviewed for collecting research data. Findings show that a Persian CARPET weaver in Iran is typically a thirty-one aged, married woman with three children who works seven hours a day. She has not another paid work and says that she weaves out of necessity. Regarding health habits, the research shows that 51% rest between work times, 14% exercise, 13%brush, 17% wash their hands with soap before dine and after going to toilet and only 6% use masks. Other results of the research indicate that health and medical facilities available for the population is not satisfactory in comparison to national rates. The CARPET WEAVERS' accesses to health and medical possibilities are as: 65% to physicians and medical centers, 79% to water supply, and 85% to bath. Also, 10% of them have social security insurance and 50% have rural medical insurance. 48% of respondents have attended health education programs and their information about issues of workshops' health needs and meeting them were satisfactory. 60% of workshops have other uses too, for example as kitchen, dining or guest rooms.

This article argues that hand woven CARPET - weavesrs' job satisfaction is one of the most important factors that influences the quality of their works. Thus, it is proposed to study the degree of job satisfaction among them and some important factors which determine its variation. The scope of the research involved 834 CARPET WEAVERS in East Azarbaijan and Isfahan in 2004. In this research, a theoretical model based on objective and subjective variables has been applied.

CARPET design and decoration are the fundamental elements for producing CARPET and they are important factors determining material and artistic values of a CARPET. The access and use of innovative and demand driven designs are the crucial issues that CARPET WEAVERS face with, affecting their production, productivity and income. The purpose of this paper is to explore the supply sources and methods of access to silk CARPET designs by rural WEAVERS. The data were collected using a case study methodology through focus groups, semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping, document analysis and observation. The study was conducted with 90 rural silk CARPET weaving households in 23 villages of the Zanjan Township and market actors in the cities of Zanjan, Qom and Kashan. Rural WEAVERS produced CARPET and received designs through two production approaches: a) self-employed production and b) contractual employed production for external entrepreneurs or dealers. In the self-employed approach, rural WEAVERS got accessed to designs through two mediating chains including local and urban dealers. Access to designs in this approach was mostly indirect, in that rural WEAVERS demanded and received designs from local dealers who in turn received the designs through the silk CARPET market in the Zanjan City. In the contractual employed approach, rural WEAVERS accessed their required designs through three mediating chains, comprising local dealers, urban dealers and urban entrepreneurs. The most frequent contact of rural WEAVERS was related to their direct visit to their entrepreneurs or employers who were not CARPET designers. In both production approaches, the provincial rural CARPET :union: acted as a dealer rather than a community based organization supporting rural WEAVERS, so it did not reflect the WEAVERS' interest.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between refractive errors and ocular components values in CARPET WEAVERS.Methods: Refractive errors and ocular components values were investigated in CARPET WEAVERS at Mashhad city in Iran. After selection of samples, the individuals who had ophthalmic and systemic disease effective on the refractive errors were excluded from the study. Refractive errors and ocular components were measured by autorefractometry, A-Scan ultrasonography and, keratometery, respectively.  Results: 269 CARPET WEAVERS including 191 male (71.9%) and 78 female cases (28.1%) with the mean age of 41.30±6.5 years and range of 21 to 60 years were investigated in this study. The average of spherical equivalent (SE) refraction of the subjects was -1.7±1.8 diopters (D). SE has a significant relation to axial length (AL) (r=-0.564), anterior chamber depth (ACD) (r=-0.301), vitreous chamber depth (VCD) (r=-0.557), lens thickness (LT) (r=0.170), and corneal curvature radius (CR) (r=0.170). AL and VCD had the most relationship to myopia. The average values of the AL, ACD, VCD, and LT of the subjects were 23.6, 3.2, 16.6 and 3.9 mm respectively. The average of CR was 7.6 mm. Except LT, other optical components were significantly different in both genders. ACD, VCD, and CR had an inverse relation to age and LT had a direct relation to age. Conclusion: SE refraction in CARPET WEAVERS had a significant relation to the ocular components and variation in SE refraction may be due to the changes of these elements. 

Background: Proper nutrition can affect the economic and health status of next generation. Nutritional status of women workers is so important. This study has been done to determine weight status energy, macro and micronutrient intakes and to compare with dietary standards.Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study has been done on 300 CARPET weaver women in Yazd. After measuring height and weight, dietary intake was determined using 3 day 24 h dietary recall questionnaire and analyzed by Nutritionist 4 software. Descriptive analysis, t-test and ANOVA were used by SPSS software.Results: After omitting over and under reporting, data of 270 workers were analyzed. Mean of body mass index was 23.39±3.84 Kg/m2. Underweight and overweight/obesity were seen in 11.10 and 28.51 percent, respectively. Mean of energy intake was 2379.40±473.70 Kcal/d while 73.43, 9.57, and 18.17 percents of energy have been supplied by carbohydrate, protein and fat, respectively. Dietary intakes of vitamins B2, B6, folate and minerals such as Ca, Zn, and Mg were significantly lower than Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). More than half of the women had insufficient intake of these micronutrients.Conclusion: According to this study, micronutrient deficiencies are the issue in women in spite of energy excess.

The CARPET industry developed various types of respiratory disorders, pulmonary function, musculoskeletal disorders, injuries, eyesight problems, nerve disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome and skin problems. Developing such types of disorders occur as a result of poor environmental conditions coupled with unhygienic conditions. On the other hand, lack of appropriate knowledge and perceived barriers among the WEAVERS led to existing problems in the CARPET industry. Most of these diseases and health problems can be avoided by proper precautions and care.