The Gender Dimension: Integrating the Gender Perspective in Occupational Safety and Health Policies
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. Concerns have been expressed over the different effects of exposure to hazardous substances, or of biological agents on the reproductive health, the physical demands of heavy work, the ergonomic design of workplaces and the length of the working day, especially when domestic duties also have to be taken into account. If health promotion policies in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) are to be effective for both women and men, they must be based on more accurate information about the relationship between health and gender roles. A broad strategy for the improvement of women workers’ safety and health has to be built up within a national policy on OSH, particularly in those areas where many women are concentrated.