Gender-sensitive safety

Professional union Prospect is asking its safety reps how gender-sensitive their workplaces are. Risks to men are better known, it says, because health and safety developments have tended to focus on:

• dangerous jobs, that historically, have been largely dominated by male workers;

• standards and exposure limits based on male cohorts and laboratory tests; and

• male mannequins in the manufacture of protective equipment and clothing.

It says that the increasing proportion of women in the workforce has led to questions about the different effects of work-related risks on men and women, in terms of exposure to hazardous substances, the impact of biological agents on reproductive health, the physical demands of heavy work, the ergonomic design of workplaces and the length of the working day, especially when domestic duties are also taken into account.

Prospect says that a gender-sensitive approach to health and safety improves prevention for both women and men and makes sure that everyone is equally protected. It recommends the use of the TUC gender-sensitive health and safety checklist (see www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-14179-f0.pdf).

The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) has invited Prospect members working in science, technology, engineering, construction, and inspection and regulation to take part in an survey about safety footwear (see Workplace Report January 2010).