Occupational risks prevention and their relationships to workers' gender

Résumé

PURPOSE: this study analyzed the differences in preventive management performed in companies that had informed their workers about occupational diseases, and analyzed these differences according to workers' sex. METHODS: the sample comprised 302 workers (31.1% were women). Data were collected via a 40-question survey administered in companies from the province of Valencia (Spain). RESULTS: the results showed that both prevention plans and workers' participation in designing prevention of occupational risks were activities that were less frequently developed. Moreover, with regard to workers' sex, preventive management for women was significantly worse than for men. CONCLUSIONS: in the activities of risk prevention at work, gender bias can result in negative discrimination toward female workers. In addition, occupational risks and their consequences on occupational health should be considered a matter of public health.