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Attention: Northern region media

Older women’s health and safety ignored

The Northern TUC will today (Friday) launch a new TUC/Pennell Initiative report on older women’s health and safety at work at a major regional conference focusing on the health and safety of women at work.

The report, which is published today, says that the health and safety of twelve million women is being ignored. The Health and Work of Older Women: a neglected issue, says that older women work longer hours than younger women, have lower status jobs and have a higher chance of developing bad backs and broken bones. It sets out an agenda for action by Government, employers, unions and researchers, calling on them to listen to older women workers.

TUC General Secretary John Monks said:

"This report issues a challenge to all of us, to make sure that work is healthy and safe for a growing and vital part of the labour force. Older women deserve to have their concerns taken seriously, and I pledge the TUC to ensure that they aren't ignored and invisible any more. Work needs to be adapted to their needs - we can ill afford to squander women's health and employers can't afford to lose out on skilled, experienced and committed staff."

The author of the report, Professor Lesley Doyal, Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Bristol, said:

'Twelve million women in the UK are aged 45 and over. Many of these women will spend longer in paid employment, as they are likely to live longer than ever before. They will make a significant contribution to the economy and public services.'

The Northern TUC conference, being organised jointly by the TUC’s Health & Safety Forum and trade union solicitor’s Thompson’s, is being held on International Women’s Day: speakers at the event will include Gateshead MP, Joyce Quin.

The conference will focus on the specific health and safety issues which impact upon women, including:

• women are more exposed than men to repetitive and monotonous work and to stressful conditions;

• young women are more likely than men to be physically assaulted at work (one in ten 25-34 year old women workers have been physically attacked by a member of the public in the course of their work. Rates for women generally are a third higher than for men);

• back strain (at least 100,000 women a year suffer with their backs because of work), skin diseases, headaches and eyestrain (twice as many females as males reported suffering from work-related headache and eyestrain - an estimated 50,000 workers) are more likely to effect women at work than men;

• women face a double jeopardy because they often work a double shift of paid work and work in the home - and the one often compounds the other; and

• w omen’s risks at work have traditionally been ignored by the research community, so less is known about the work risks that women face.

As well as celebrating International Women’s Day, the conference is part of a wider series of events being organised by the Northern TUC to launch its 2002 ‘Year of Equality’, which will be formally launched in Newcastle on 22 March.

Speaking about the Women’s Health and Safety at Work Conference, TUC regional secretary Paul Nowak said:

‘This conference will highlight the issues that make a real difference to the safety and health of women at work - issues including manual handling, domestic violence, lone working and RSI.

‘Trade union negotiation, and trade union inspired legislation, over issues such as equal pay have shown what unions can do to represent women at work effectively.

‘However, when it comes to occupational health and safety, the risks women can face have largely been ignored or understated. In particular, studies on workplace health and safety have focused mainly on the risks faced by men. Now is the time to redress this imbalance and make sure unions and employers alike are taking the health and safety of women at work seriously.’

Notes to Editors

The first International Women’s Day was held 90 years ago, on 19 March 1911 - and on that day over one million men and women took to the streets of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland - demanding universal suffrage and right to hold public office, the right to work and an end to discrimination.

The ‘Women’s Health & Safety at Work’ event is being supported by trade union solicitors Thompson’s.

Speakers will include Joyce Quin MP, and Jackie Woodall (GMB), who will speak on domestic violence.

Contacts:

Paul Nowak , TUC Regional Secretary on 0191 232 3175, or 0788 754 1461

Pennell Initiative for Women’s Health:

Julia Cole, Development Director

01793 422373 / 07771 555328 o r email cole@dial.pipex.com

Press release (800 words) issued 8 Mar 2002