Russia is set to allow women to take jobs as truck and train drivers, and to operate heavy machinery, lifting a ban that was intended to protect their health.

A list of jobs and professions prohibited for women in Russia is going to be amended in the near future, Russia’s Labour Minister Maxim Topilin told reporters on Friday.

The list contains 456 professions in 39 industries - mostly those requiring work with various chemicals, heavy machinery or complex vehicles - that are considered dangerous for women’s health. It was adopted in 1974 and last revised in 2000.

According to Mr Topilin, women will now be allowed to take jobs in six out of these 39 categories: bread-making, sea, river, air and railway transport, driving heavy trucks and specialised vehicles.

It wasn’t immediately clear which professions in particular will be taken off the list. At the moment, women are not allowed to do work that involves operating heavy machinery in baking, being a member of deck and engine crews on ships, driving different kinds of trains and doing certain types of maintenance work on trains, planes and ships.