| Abstract | Since occupational safety and health (OSH) is considered one of the essential elements of decent work, this study measures the relationship of OSH with home based work from a gender perspective. The major aim of the study is to examine the gendered patterns of home based workers' occupational diseases, accidents and injuries as well as workers' health seeking behavior along with their emotional and reproductive health. The study is based mainly on primary data, supplemented by secondary information. The study has employed purposive sampling method for selecting study respondents. Quantitative data has been collected through structured questionnaire and qualitative information has been collected through key informant interview with the stakeholders, and in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with the home based workers. Identified OSH issues of home based workers in this study are fever, headaches, hand, leg, body or back ache, stomach ache, eye strain, asthma, tuberculosis, dust to lungs and other breathing problems; however, the pattern of problems varies according to the nature and type of home based work and workers' gender status. Due to structural factors such as poverty, home based workers' health problems are neglected. Because of the gender division of labor, home based women workers are more vulnerable to chronic diseases while men are more exposed to accidents and injuries related to their occupations. Home based women workers' tasks are more tedious, repetitive and overburdened with reproductive work which creates more mental health problems for women than men. In addition, women home based workers have little access to health care due to both poverty and gender-based conceptions of family roles - even less access than male home based workers with equivalent health problems. Regarding reproductive health, male home based workers suffer from lacking sexual emotion while female home based workers suffer from menstruation associated problems (i.e., headache, over bleeding, low stomach pain, etc.), infertility and prolapsed uterus. Most of these problems are directly related to their home based work. These reproductive problems further create family conflict as well as self ashamedness (particularly in men when their masculinity is challenged) when family expectation is not fulfilled. Female home based workers are particularly overburdened by both reproductive roles in the household chores as well as productive role as home based worker and stress and exhaustion are found due to that overburden. This burden becomes peak when family members (particularly husband) do not consider home based work as productive ('real') work. Children of home based workers also suffer from many diseases, accidents and injuries which are directly associated with their parents' home based work. The OSH of home based workers should be addressed by the government through appropriate policy formulation and implementation involving all stakeholders - i.e., employers (individuals and companies), trade union leaders, health agencies, NGOs, and other organizations |