HesaMag #12: "Women at work: in search of recognition" (2015) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Gender issues on occupational safety and health
Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita
The increasing proportion of women in the workforce raises a range of gender-related questions about the different effects of work-related risks on men and women. Few studies have characterized gender differences across occupations and industries, although at this time, the gender sensitive approach is starting to acquire relevance in the field of human preventive medicine. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has encouraged a policy of gender equality in all European member states. Italy has adopted European provisions with new specific legislation that integrates the previous laws and introduces the gender differences into the workplace. Despite the fact that gender equal legislation opportunities have been enacted in Italy, their application is delayed by some difficulties. This review examines some of these critical aspects.
The gender workplace health gap in Europe (2003)
Generally speaking, women's issues are absent from health and safety policies: the hazards involved are either unknown or underestimated; and priorities are defined in male-dominated sectors and occupations, and so on. This failure to take account of women's health issues in the workplace constitutes a barrier to effective policies on occupational health and equal opportunities. For several years now, the ETUI Health and Safety department and the ETUC have been trying to incorporate gender into their workplace health and safety policy. In 2001, the ETUI Health and Safety department and ETUC decided to carry out a survey in the 15 EU countries aiming at assessing the situation in two areas: The inclusion of gender issues in health and safety policies. The aim was to ascertain the extent to which issues to do with women's health are taken into account when defining priorities, research activities and statistical data, and also the extent to which they are taken on board by the respective players and institutions. Practical experiences involving health and safety actions at the workplace that take account of gender issues. This book reviews the key issues addressed by the research developments, policies and prospects) and case studies from different EU countries illustrating research action in various sectors on different categories of risks.
10 keys for gender sensitive occupational safety and health practice – a brief overview
Acknowledging the differences between men and women workers in terms of their societal roles, expectations, responsibilities, biological differences and employment patterns plays a key role in identifying the different physical and psychological workplace risks they may each be exposed to.1 In order to create more comprehensive and effective Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policies and prevention strategies the International Labour Organization (ILO) has created 10 key guidelines to mainstream gender in the workplace.1 This article provides a brief overview of these gendersensitive OSH guidelines in celebration of the National Institute for Occupational Health’s (NIOH) 60th anniversary and the launch of the NIOH Gender, Health and the World of Work Programme.
A GENDER SENSITIVE FRAMEWORK TO SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK
The aim of this paper was to formulate a strategy on how to take a gender sensitive approach when negotiating health and safety policies and procedures in the workplace. This was done by carrying out case studies on how companies are managing gender in their occupational health and safety policies, thereby highlighting the different health and safety risks that female and male workers are exposed to. The methodology was based on a structured questionnaire and direct observations to gather information from companies within a Southern African case country. Women's response to the questionnaire and the content of their answers were quite different from those of their male colleagues, indicating that industry is defined, to a large extent, in gender terms as far as working conditions are concerned. Literature from researches that have been carried out on occupational safety and health (OSH) pertaining to gender was reviewed. and it described differences in health at work by gender accounting for both psychosocial and physical hazards at work. The paper outlined a set of interesting lessons for academics, industry and safety practitioners by providing guidelines that will assist in ensuring a correct focus to select an appropriate safety performance evaluation model.
XIV International Conference on Women Leadership And Empowerment, 2020
Construction has not been an obvious career choice for women all over the world as a result of the strongly held masculine perception that they are not suited for the industry and several other consequent challenges they encounter. The terrain of physical work and associated ergonomic hazards are two of such perceptions. Despite the advocacy for liberalisation and feminisation concerning gender roles, traditional stereotypes regarding occupational roles continue to dominate both in theoretical discourses and practice. Women all over the world constitute a minority in the construction workforce and compared to their male counterparts, have unique health and safety needs as construction work exposes them to high risks of injuries and fatalities. The paper reported on studies focusing on gender differences in occupational exposures and outcomes in the South African context as well as internationally. The study also highlights (i) gender considerations in workplace safety (ii) issues pertaining to women's occupational workplace health and safety in construction. The paper suggests that a gender-sensitive approach is required to address and accommodate the health and safety needs of women in construction.
Work, 2012
Health, safety and environmental issues are at present a social concern and an increasingly referred topic in the so called gender studies. This paper focuses on the relations between training, gender and risk perception in an industrial chemicals company, in Portugal, characterized by a mainly male population and by the presence of high occupational and environmental hazards. After characterizing the company and the training project that started up this reflection, the paper presents the reasons for its focus on gender followed by the essential methodological explanations: 14 interviews were made with male and female workers from the company; their content was transcribed from the audio recordings and it was systematically analyzed. A gender-attentive socio demographic analysis was also undertaken. Although at the beginning the company did not consider the gender issues as a problem nor was it the central topic of the training, which focused on the prevention of occupational and environmental hazards, the results reveal that the gender factor brought to light some working conditions, which so far have not been properly discussed within the group meetings. As a consequence, there is now room for the transformation of the representations on those working conditions.
Romanian Aspects Of Gender Equality In Occupational Health And Safety
2014
Imposed by gender concerns at a global level, the analysis of professions feminization phenomenon is a very topical concern. Starting with Human Rights and ending with aspects such as stereotypes, professional segregation and gender bias, equality of chances, including gender equality, is the answer to multiple social and economic issues. Following an overview of several studies from this area of interest, the authors made an analysis of women representation degree among external prevention and protection services managers from Romania. The investigation area reflects not only the measure of professions feminisation in occupational health and safety, but a series of stereotypes and obstacles which rise ahead of women engineers, as well. The results of the study enhance identification of improvement areas for the situation of women operating in this domain and comparison with the nowadays global situation (highlighted in studies of gender equality-related institutions).
The need for detailed gender-specific occupational safety analysis
Journal of Safety Research, 2017
The female workers are growing in number in the United States. Therefore, the occupational health and 17 safety entities must start to analyze gender-specific data related to every industry, especially to nontraditional 18 occupations. Women working in nontraditional jobs are often exposed to extreme workplace hazards. These 19 women have their safety and health threatened because there are no adequate policies to mitigate gender-20 specific risks such as discrimination and harassment. Employers tend to aggravate this situation because they 21 often fail to provide proper reporting infrastructure and support. According to past studies, women suffered 22 from workplace injuries and illnesses that were less prominent among men. Statistics also confirmed that men 23 and women faced different level of risks in distinct work environments. For example, the rates of workplace 24 violence and murders by personal acquaintances were significantly higher among women. In this paper, the 25 authors analyze prior public data on fatal and nonfatal injuries to understand why we need to differentiate 26 genders when analyzing occupational safety and health issues. Also, the reader will become aware of the current 27 lack of data and knowledge about injuries and illnesses separated by gender and industry.