Safety of Woman In The Working Environment

SHEQ Solutions

Safety of Woman In The Working Environment

July 14th, 2010

Woman in the working environment has become a more prominent force over the past decade due to factors such as employment equity and gender equality issues, to mention a few examples.

This means that we need to cater additionally for more conditions exclusive to the female population.

A few examples that spring to mind are:

Pregnancy including breast feeding (before and after the child is born)
Child care facilities on and off the site
Sleep deprivation and the impact on productivity and safety
Child emergencies while the mother is at work
School holidays and children at home or daycare
Juggling a variety of portfolios in one day such as mother, business woman, educator, nurse, wife, psychologist, nutritionist, etc.
Moving up in the career-path development process and additional stress
That time of the month
Facilities such as SHE bins in the female ablution areas
Feelings of guilt because you are working and not at home with children
Me time

We are going to discuss some of these issues further:

Pregnancy and related topics

During the first nine months of carrying the unborn child there are many factors that the mother (employee) and child can be exposed to such as chemicals, noise, radiation, stress or incidents on site.

Because of the delicate situation of the employee extra care needs to be taken during these months such as removing the employee out of areas where hazardous exposure can occur, the employee keeping the employer informed about at risk conditions pertaining to the pregnancy or medication used by the employee that can influence the output of the employee negatively or even harm the employee or fellow employees (drowsiness, dizziness).

What is important is that the employer receives a letter from the employees’ doctor indicating the health status of the employee. This letter should also in the last month before the baby is due take the responsibility for the safety and health of the employee on the shoulders of the doctor. Why? Because the employee should normally leave the working environment at the end of month eight as the last month of pregnancy is one of the highest risk months for the employee.

However todays’ mother-to-be’s prefer working until the last day before the baby arrives in order to spend more time when the baby is born with the child. This is a huge safety and health risk for every company. What are the legal implications to the company should something happen to the mom and unborn baby in month nine?

Another issue is once the baby is born and the first four months have passed by and the mother (employee) is coming back to work. Various problems affecting both health and safety but also productivity can occur such as:

Breast feeding mothers - still being exposed to hazardous chemicals and other workplace risks which may be transferred to the child via breast milk
Being sleep deprived due to having to feed the child every 2 - 4 hours during the night - this could lead to drowsiness during work, lack of concentration, loss of production, reduced quality of service or product delivery and even aggressiveness.
Should the child be ill - the attention would be at home and time would be spent on the phone to arrange doctors’ appointments or supervising of the child as the mother have to work and cannot attend to the child herself - this can become very stressful.
A large factor is also the “guilt” factor for having to work and not being able to be a stay-at-home mom - this could lead to being very emotional or even angry at people or the working environment.

Workplace needs for woman

There are special needs for female employees in the working environment. They can include:

Toilet facilities that provide items for that special time of the month such as SHE bins, tampons, pads or other related items - during this time some female employees might have a mood change or may suffer from a lack of energy due to the loss of iron - this can lead to fatigue or arguments of which both can be the cause of incident.
Change-rooms - woman have more needs during showering such as being able to shave, wanting to put conditioner on their hair or what we call “titivating” issues such as applying perfumed body lotion, perfume, having to blow-dry one’s hair, applying make-up, etc. - having the environment to do this effectively would be advantageous to the company and lead to increase in employee moral (the company cares about us).
Ergonomically woman are differently “put together/designed” than men. We are normally shorter in length than our male counterpart as well as have less strength than men (there are exceptions to this generalization). This has an implication workplace design and health and safety.

The chairs we sit on are normally too high which cuts off blood supply to the lower legs and which can lead to clotting or cramps in the legs. We cannot lift the same or heavy weights and sometimes lift more than what we are suppose to lift with the effect of suffering from back problems.

We tend to work long hours at a desk without taking frequent breaks which also leads to back, should and neck pain and strain. We work long hours in front of computer screens - eye strain and headaches. The lists of examples are endless - the fact is that these issues should be identified through an ergonomics survey and addressed accordingly before injuries or illnesses may occur.

Female employees and their dress sense do not always coincide with a safe working environment.

The most common office incidents are tripping and falling, slipping or running up the stairs and falling. Concerns are the high heels we wear and the conditions of the floors, the loose clothing, hair and jewelery we wear and the risk attached to this on the work floor.

Another sensitive issue might be the “voluptuousness” issue. We tend to be more prone to being overweight and this could cause permanent health concerns which impacts on productivity and the working environment.

We have mentioned only a few issues in this article. I’m sure other female readers of this article will be able to add some of the other issues they face in the comment section lower down on the page.

Safety Needs of Women

One point that needs to be made is that women are a large and permanent part of our current workforce and that they are different. The more we accommodate their needs the better the results will be for the employees as well as the company.

Woman are not asking for special treatment - they are asking for more respect. This female employee could be your wife, sister or mother. How would you like them to be treated in terms of their health and safety in the working environment?

2 Responses to “Safety of Woman In The Working Environment”

Natasha Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I need to find out the list of health and safety regulations we need to have in place for our new childrens party venue? Could you pls help, Thank you, Natasha
Christel Fouche Says:
August 3rd, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Hi Natasha
The OHSAct and most of its regulations will be applicable but more soe: environmental regulations, facilities regulations, general safety regs and electrical installation regs. Regards Christel.