This guide outlines the key workplace safety risks, expecially concerning for women in the workplace.
Workplace safety and injury is a serious issue for all companies, regardless of the industry. In the US alone, almost 3 million workers sustain injuries every year while on duty. According to Angela Belty, a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles, many workplace injuries have resulted from plain fatigue, the presence of hazardous materials in the working area, employee disagreements that lead to physical violence, and accidental trips and falls.
These numbers reflect a need for employers to step up their game to ensure the safety of their employees, both physically and psychologically. Quick action should be taken when accidents happen, and if possible, establish a back-to-work program to help ease them back into the workplace once they have recovered.
But other than these, female workers are also faced with their own set of workplace safety risks while working. This is because some industries and workplaces are more skewed towards men, which puts women at a disadvantage. Women’s physical condition and body structure also contribute to some of the issues that they have to deal with at work.
Key workplace safety risks
Many female workers are concerned about their safety, particularly those employed in high-risk industries like health, logistics, construction, and others. According to the National Safety Council, women were related to almost 30% of the workplace injuries reported in the transportation and warehousing industry. Aside from this, female workers are also more vulnerable to assault, with more than 70% of assault cases in 2020 involving female victims.
A recent study also showed that women are three times more likely to get injured compared to their male counterparts in some non-traditional jobs where female employees are a minority. This includes municipal jobs like gardening or street maintenance, communications technicians, and landscaping jobs in which women have only started getting involved in these last few years.
But even in gender-typical jobs like cashier, nurse, and teacher, women still have to deal with health and safety hazards. In these occupations, they are 50% more susceptible to musculoskeletal problems like aches and pains in the back and feet. Aside from these, almost 60% of women are also more likely to suffer from accidental injury by another person and from falls of the same level.
Why Women Face Different Risks At Work
While it is true that men are also vulnerable to workplace injuries, women are dealing with their own set of workplace safety challenges. One primary reason for this is that workplaces in non-traditional jobs are not appropriately designed for women. Many work-related requirements, such as equipment, clothing, or tasks, are more male-oriented, leading to higher workplace safety risks of accidental injury for female workers.
Hotel cleaners, for example, are almost 90% made up of women, as reported by the US Census Bureau. However, they are often given carts with bars that are too high for their shorter limbs. Another example is the ladders used by technicians, which have caused a significant number of injuries for female workers because they were too big to carry or to be carried properly, considering their typically smaller body structure.
Other possible reasons are that the women are less experienced in these industries, are physically less able to do the job, or the equipment and training are still ill-adapted and unsuitable for women. Sometimes, the tools they are given are unsuitable for their smaller stature.
There is also a lack of research examining work-related hazards brought about by biological conditions specific to women, such as menstruation and menstrual pain. For instance, cold temperatures can exacerbate menstrual cramps, which, in turn, can affect the female employee’s concentration and alertness at work. However, women hesitate to speak up about these issues for fear of being deemed unsuitable for the workplace or being accused of expecting special treatment.
How To Improve Women’s Safety In The Workplace
There are several ways in which companies could make the workplace safer for female employees. First is to give them access to proper gear and equipment, which would provide them with better protection and help them improve their work performance. Another is to adapt workplace safety training materials that would enable the women to do the job properly, considering the female body structure.
Employers should review their historical safety trends involving female employees and apply appropriate safety measures that address lapses in current protocols. In cases of assault, company policies should be strictly observed and disciplinary actions enforced to show the company’s stand on such matters clearly.
It would also help if the organization creates a culture of support and acceptance that makes women feel that it’s perfectly acceptable to voice their workplace safety concerns without fear of being judged, deemed incompetent, or considered a nuisance. After all, they are in the best position to describe what adjustments are needed to improve the working conditions and, as a result, their overall performance and productivity.
