Trades Union Congress - Workplace Issues

For more information on Health and safety issues for women click here for the relevant chapter of the TUC guide to health and safety "Hazards at Work

There are ten million working women in Britain. Many factors have helped keep occupational health a "men only" issue, from bad science to prejudice, to the jobs we do. The two enduring myths are that men do all the risky work and when women do get hurt it is explained by differences in gender, not jobs.

Women are more exposed to repetitive and monotonous work and to stressful conditions, young women are more likely to be assaulted at work than men and women are more likely than men to experience back strain, skin diseases, headaches and eyestrain.

Women's workplace health problems are frequently compounded by getting more of the same at home - the "double jeopardy " of domestic work, which can mean a second shift of lifting, responsibility and chemicals topping off those experienced all day at work.

Links:

TUC pages on Gender and Occupational Safety & Health(GOSH)

TUC Gender and Occupational Safety and Health 'Gender-sensitivity' Checklist

One in seven women has safety concerns about the journey to and from work, a survey by the retail union Usdaw has found.

The menopause is an important occupational health issue, the TUC has said, and is calling on employers to provide more support at work.

Significantly higher rates of lung cancer deaths - sometimes double what would be expected - occurred in US women who worked in more than 40 occupations between 1984 and 1998.

Employers should not be able to penalise staff for using the toilet in work time, and should provide their employees with clean, modern lavatories, says the TUC today (Monday) as it calls for a change in the law to bring workplace loos into the 21st ...

Up to 11 million UK workers could face serious health problems from prolonged standing at work, and they are offered less protection than employees from the Victorian era, says a new report from the TUC published today (Thursday).

Commenting on the Health & Safety Commission's (HSC) latest detailed statistics on fatal injuries released today, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

TUC, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
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Trades Union Congress: Workplace Issues

Women and Health and Safety