Tài liệu Women’s health & safety: A guide for UNISON safety representatives pptx

It can be used to ensure that employers consider women staff when developing any health and safety initiatives, such as carrying out risk assessments, planning new systems of work, work

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Women’s health &

safety

A guide for UNISON safety representatives

= Organising for

U NI ISON Health & Safety

3 Introduction

4 The Scale of the problem

5 Case study I

7 The Law on Women’s Health and Safety

9 Case Study 2

16 Case Study 3

I8 Case study 4

21 The Safety Representative’s Role

22 UNISON Survey

24 Further Advice and Information

Women’s health and safety

Introduction

Almost nothing is known about the effects of work on women’s health and safety Yet nearly half of the UK workforce (72% of UNISON members) are women, with a large number of these working part-time or doing several part-time jobs In many sectors, such as cleaning, women are frequently exposed to harmful chemicals, including solvents These substances may affect fertility and pregnancy, and can lead to miscarriages or premature births

They also increase the risk of other diseases, such as dermatitis,

allergies, and even cancer

Many women suffer from musculoskeletal disorders They are probably the most common work-related problem among women workers Musculoskeletal disorders are generally associated with heavy lifting tasks, awkward postures, monotonous and repetitive tasks and inadequate systems of work Home care workers, healthcare workers and catering staff, who are usually women, often work in such conditions Yet when employers carry out risk assessments for such work, gender is very rarely considered

Where women experience gynaecological or reproductive problems and other possible work-related concerns, a link is hardly ever made with their work It is still the case today that women approaching their GP are rarely asked about their work or work patterns

It is clear that better information and far more research is needed into the effects of work on women’s health and safety UNISON has produced this guide as a first step for safety representatives

It can be used to ensure that employers consider women staff when developing any health and safety initiatives, such as carrying out risk assessments, planning new systems of work, work equipment

or personal protective equipment It can also be used to start raising awareness of women’s health and safety concerns among members

The Scale of the Problem

No one’s health should suffer because of the work they do Yet

many working women regularly suffer health and safety accidents

and ill health at work Many UNISON women members work in

areas where the risk of ill health or injury is high For example

according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE’s) 1995 Self-

reported Work related Illness Survey (SWI):

@ At least 100,000 women a year suffer with back problems

because of work

M One in ten 24-34 year old women workers have been

physically attacked by a member of the public in the course

of their work Rates for women are generally a third

higher than for men

M More than a quarter of women have to lift or move heavy

loads at work Musculo-skeletal disorders associated with

heavy lifting, awkward postures, and repetitive tasks are by

far the most commonly reported work related illness

M Stress is the second most commonly reported condition

among working women, but the cause of the most concern

M One in five women said they were exposed to fumes, dust

or other harmful substances at work

Mm ‘Twice as many females as males reported suffering from

work-related headache and eyestrain — an estimated 50,000

women workers Over half of these workers attributed the

cause to the use of VDU’s

@ The highest rate for work-related skin diseases were in jobs

like hairdressing and repetitive assembly — two highly

concentrated female occupations

It is generally perceived that the health and safety problems and needs of women workers are identical to those of men This is clearly not true Yet the HSE applies the same standard for both women and men, both in terms of work methods and work equipment This has led to a number of health and safety problems for women at work

Case Study I Women working in a school kitchen were able to negotiate for protective shoes, as there had been a large number of slips, trips and falls injuries However, the women found that the shoes were

a bad fit, were too broad, and the soles were very inflexible

On reporting this to management, they were told that shoes had been supplied, and therefore the employer’s responsibilities had now been fulfilled Any slips, trips or falls incidences that occurred would now be deemed the women’s fault!

The UNISON safety representative argued that under the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations protective clothing such as

shoes should be suitable for the risk and for the wearer, should be

maintained, provided free of charge and used only as a last resort

As a result, the employer withdrew the original shoes and provided more suitable ones after consultation with kitchen staff

Women have also been left out of research into occupational ill health Researchers have tended to concentrate on problems associated with heavy industries, usually dominated by men

This caused by a perception that women’s work is safe, and that only men do dirty, heavy, dangerous or stressful work The common view is that the work women do is light, easy and risk free But if we ask women members who work on computers all day doing intensive data entry work; or those working as home carers,

lifting several clients each day without lifting aids, training

or information on the risks; or cleaning staff with dermatitis or

asthma caused by the cleaning fluids they use, they will all tell us

that their work is not light, not easy and certainly not risk free

Different Risks

There are several reasons why women face different risks to those

experienced by men:

™@ Women are physically different On average women are

shorter, lighter and less muscular than men

m Women tend to work in specific areas, unlike men, who are

evenly spread across all occupational groups Women tend

to work in the service industry, on jobs which involve

regular contact with people; caring or support jobs; or

work in computerised areas, such as call centres

(Of course men doing these jobs face similar hazards)

mM Women get pregnant Pregnant women, nursing mothers

or those who have recently given birth need special

protection from specific work hazards

m Women often have two roles — paid work, and home and

family responsibilities

™ Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or tools used by

women are designed for men For example, many cleaners

are women, yet they are still expected to use floor buffing

machines which are heavy, and difficult to move

™ Women experience the menopause Going through the

menopause (often called ‘the change’) can be very difficult

for some women at work, and this should be recognised

Common menopausal symptoms can include sleeplessness

causing tiredness; hormonal imbalances which may cause a

range of problems including temporary loss of balance, hot

flushes (a source of embarrassment for many women) and

heavy or irregular bleeding which can cause lethargy,

irritability and depression

Although women are less likely to be killed at work, they are more likely than men to be affected by an occupational illness because of the areas they work in And the types of accidents women suffer reflect the different tasks that they do For example, women are more likely to have an accident because they are tired

Common complaints from women members include:

Stress caused by overwork and too many demands Headaches and eye strain after working on VDU’s

Aches and pains in the neck, shoulders, arms or wrists

Back pain

Skin rashes, headaches, sore eyes or throat and breathing

problems

@ Infections

® Accidents involving slips, trips and falls

But none of these risks are inevitable A properly managed workplace should be healthy and safe for all staff — including women

The Law on Women’s Health and Safety

The general duty placed on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees clearly includes women workers Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations employers should carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment

of the risk to employees’ health and safety

Where employees include women of childbearing age and the work could involve risks specific to new and expectant mothers, the employer must take specific account of this group Employers who

do not carry out such an assessment could be in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act

But recognition of the differences between women and men’s health

and safety is very limited in other health and safety legislation

For example no account is taken of the double exposure women

face when using the same chemical at work and at home This is

a potential problem for cleaning staff — the majority of whom

are women

The exposure limits set out in the Control of Substances Hazardous

to Health (COSHH) Regulations are based solely on male bodies

Exposure limits are set on the basis of an eight hour day and five

day week, which fails to recognise the differences in the way women

work For example, many women work part-time or do several

part-time jobs in the same day Individual risk assessments do not

take this into account

Legislation which takes some account of women’s

health and safety include:

@ The Control of Lead at Work Regulations, which excludes

women of reproductive age from occupations involving

significant exposure to lead The levels of exposure

allowed for women (and young people) are lower than

those for adult males (Although male workers can also be

severely affected by exposure to lead)

@ The Ionising Radiation’s Regulations, which advise

employers to take account of the special risks to pregnant

and breastfeeding women

However, these regulations restrict the exposure of women to

hazards by removing them from jobs rather than making the

workplace safe for all And it means that women may be exposed

to hazards before they realise they are pregnant This approach

also completely fails to recognise that reproductive hazards

can affect men

There are a whole range of health and safety issues which can affect women members at work Many of these will relate to work-related accidents and injuries, but some concerns relate to the conditions women are expected to work in

Case Study 2 The ladies’ toilet at a large hospital was supplied with an open waste paper basket for discarding soiled sanitary towels Men usually empty these baskets

As well as the indignity of such a situation, these baskets can hardly be deemed suitable under the regulations

Another hospital in the same region did not supply any sanitary machines in the ladies’ toilets used by staff

In this hospital, the UNISON Branch negotiated for the installation of a sanitary towel machine

Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations suitable means of disposal for sanitary dressings should be provided in toilets used by women

Here are some of the more common issues that may

be of concern:

Stress

Stress can result wherever the demands of the job do not match the resources made available to the individual to do it, or where people have no control over what they do, or how and when they do it When levels of stress are constant they can become unmanageable and bring the risk of ill health

For women, other factors may be involved A number of studies have found that stress can affect working women more than men

A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) published

as long ago as 1992 noted that “the relationship between gender,

work and stress is complex and varied Several factors seem to

increase the impact of stress on women” These include the fact

that women are often paid less than men, many workplaces lack

policies that allow for family responsibilities, and the types of jobs

women do have built-in stress factors, such as high job demands

and low worker control over the job A study in the US found that

over a ten-year period, women in jobs with high levels of strain but

little control were nearly three times more likely to develop heart

disease than a comparable group in other jobs

In addition, women are more likely to face additional stresses in the

form of sex discrimination and harassment, bullying and violence

According to a recent TUC survey of women safety representatives,

stress topped the list of priorities for women workers

There are no specific laws dealing with stress However, employers

do have a duty to ensure safe methods of working Under the

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, employers

must assess the nature and scale of risks to health in the workplace

and ensure there are proper control measures in place This applies

just as much to the risk of stress as to other workplace hazards

In addition, the Working Time Regulations place limits on the

length of the working week, and also force all employers to give

paid holidays These will help alleviate some of the worst causes of

stress; long hours and too few rest opportunities

The HSE has produced guidance on stress at work It makes no

specific mention of women, but states that “ill health resulting from

stress caused at work has to be treated the same as ill health due to

other physical causes”

It also says, “Employers should bear stress in mind when assessing

possible health hazards in their workplaces keeping an eye out for

developing problems and being prepared to act if harm to health

seems likely In other words, stress should be treated like any other hazard.”

Safety representatives will need to ensure that any stress prevention policy takes account of women members and the factors that can cause or make worse work-related stress

RSI and WRULDS Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) covers a wide range of injuries to

muscles, tendons and nerves Usually hands, wrists, elbows or

shoulders are affected Knees and feet can also suffer especially where jobs involve a lot of kneeling or operating foot pedals RSI is the more common term for a set of disorders called Work Related Upper Limb Disorders (WRULDS)

There are many different names for these painful injuries They

include tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis,

epicondylitis or “tennis elbow”, bursitis, and cellulitis or “beat conditions”

These conditions can be intensely painful They can make even the simplest manual tasks impossible And the real tragedy is that they can be prevented No one should have to suffer an upper limb disorder because of their work

Nearly all types of work carry some risk of RSI It has been linked

to the use of vibrating machines such as floor buffers used by cleaners, and to office work such as using computers, and keyboards, etc

Women in general and older women in particular are at greater risk than men of developing RSI because they often do the types of jobs which involve repetitive tasks for long shifts or with no breaks Bad employers, poor work conditions and low wages force women workers to miss their breaks, work long hours in poorly designed workplaces and make them afraid to complain

Women are also less likely to be able to rest once they get home

Instead of recovering they must often do the housework or look

after the children And many of the movements at work are

repeated while doing housework

Frequent rest breaks, slowing the pace of work and redesigning

equipment or tools all help to avoid strain injuries

Employers have a duty to prevent RSI by conducting risk

assessments to identify the potential for RSI This means that

employers must work out the risk factors associated with each job,

and if there is any possibility of RSI then that risk should be

avoided where possible, and minimised where not

Safety reps will need to ensure that employers take

steps to prevent the risk of RSI to women workers by:

M@ Changing work practices

® Providing suitable breaks, and ensuring that they are taken

@ Adapting or replacing work equipment that is used by

women

® Providing proper information and training on the risk of

RSI

A system for reporting and recording the symptoms of RSI should

also be in place, and safety representatives should ensure that

women are aware of when and how to use it

Violence

Violence is a particular hazard for many members But women are

more likely to work in areas where the risk of violence is high, such

as residential and home care, healthcare and community work

Clients or visitors may attack workers in these occupations and they

may also be at risk on their way to or from client’s homes In

addition, many women members work alone and have no training

in how to deal with violent people This increases the stress and danger

Survey results from the HSE show that 8% of women workers reported being physically attacked by a member of the public in the course of their work — rising to more than one in ten of 25-35 year olds — and nearly 1 in 5 women workers had been threatened with physical violence In both cases the rates for women were up to 30 per cent higher than for men

Black and Asian women workers are at greater risk This is because black women are far more likely than white women to be involved

in the health sector, and twice as many Pakistani and Bangladeshi women work in sales than women in general; and also because they may be the victims of racial violence

Violence is not part of the job nor must it be dismissed as bad luck, incompetence, or the result of individual personalities And no member should have to endure the threat of assault or abuse by clients, service users or a member of the public, as a result of their employment

Every employer must assess the risk of violence in exactly the same way as for any other hazard Where the assessment shows a possibility of work-related violence or abuse occurring, employers must take action to remove or minimise that risk

Violence at work is not acceptable or part of the contract of employment It is work-related, arising directly out of the member’s job and the circumstances in which they have to work For

example, an increasing number of women workers are expected to work alone and this can increase the potential for work-related violence

Much of the risk of violence is predictable, often because previous

incidences have occurred, and so can be assessed, minimised or

prevented But it may also be also predictable even where there are

no previous incidences Employers have legal duties to prevent

violence to employees

Safety representatives can ensure that:

@ Employers take account of the potentially increased risk of

violence to women when carrying out risk assessments

Mm Employers take account of women when developing

policies on violence to staff

™ Women are encouraged to report and record all incidents

of violence, including threats and verbal abuse

Hazardous Chemicals

Many women workers come into contact with hazardous substances

at work, for example chemicals used by cleaners

If a woman worker became sensitised (allergic) to a cleaning fluid

used at work, she would no longer be able to use any products that

contain it at home either

Problems caused by using hazardous chemicals include dermatitis,

asthma and reproductive disorders

Pregnant women face additional hazards from some chemicals, such

as organic solvents

Staff should be provided with suitable training and information

about any hazardous chemicals that they work with Products

should also be labelled with information including the hazards of

the chemicals they contain, how to use them and the precautions

needed

Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations, employers must assess the risks of hazardous substances used at work These regulations cover not only chemicals but also

all substances, which can have an effect on health

Latex gloves used by nurses, home and residential care workers and cleaners (the majority of whom are women) are made from natural rubber and are a major cause of allergic contact dermatitis Protein

in the latex is the cause of the allergy Someone can use these gloves for years and then suddenly develop an allergy This means that they could then get a reaction whenever they touch rubber In extreme cases the reaction can cause unconsciousness Cheaper gloves are usually more dangerous, but powdered latex gloves are

by far the most dangerous They contain cornstarch, which binds to the protein making it more easily absorbed Also the dust, if breathed in, can cause asthma UNISON believes that these gloves should never be used

Employers must:

Assess the risk caused by all hazardous substances

Decide what precautions are needed to protect workers and the public

Prevent exposure (for example by using a less harmful chemical, or ensuring that where gloves are used they are

a last resort, fit for the purpose, and are not an additional hazard) If prevention is not possible, they must adequately control the exposure

Ensure that control measures are used, maintained and monitored

Monitor exposure to the hazardous substances

Carry out appropriate health surveillance

Ensure employees are informed, trained and supervised

Safety representatives can ensure that:

m Employers take account of risks to women workers when

carrying out assessments under the COSHH Regulations

@ Employers include all substances hazardous to health,

including the effects of latex and/or dust, in their assessments

® Information and training is provided, including information

from the safety data sheet which employers are required to

obtain from suppliers of the hazardous chemicals used

m@ Women members are encouraged to report and record any

incidents/accidents caused by the use of dangerous

substances

Case Study 3

The following case study is an example of effective branch action,

which succeeded in gaining changes to the substances used by

cleaners

Cleaners in a school were using a whole range of cleaning fluids —

lots of different products from lots of different manufacturers

To make matters worse, the products were not even labelled so

cleaners did not know what to use in what circumstances, or

what safety precautions they needed to take Using unlabelled

chemicals is very risky Some chemicals must be diluted for safe

use; and certain chemicals must never be used together, such as

acids and bleach

Some cleaners had noticed that some cleaning agents irritated

their skin if they were splashed with them Some of the chemicals

smelt funny and gave them a headache

The UNISON rep held a meeting with the cleaners to get their views and then carried out her own inspection She reported all the risks she found to management in writing, asked them for their COSHH assessments of the products and for a meeting to discuss the problems

It turned out that no formal risk assessments of the products had been carried out It was agreed that management would as a first step obtain all the manufacturers ‘safety data sheets’ for each product

as a Starting point for carrying out proper risk assessments Data sheets include information about what is in the product, the hazards,

the control measures needed, storage requirements etc

Among the improvements that UNISON agreed with management were that only three main cleaning chemicals would be used, that these would be colour coded and that all cleaners would be given training in their use covering the risks from the products and the precautions to be taken

Back Pain

At least 100,000 women suffer each year from back pain caused by work Back pain does not necessarily involve just a few days off work Any damage to the back or spine can make an everyday activity either impossible or extremely painful, and can lead to being incapacitated for weeks or even for life Many women work

in occupations where manual handling injuries, leading to back pain are a real concern But manual handling injuries don’t just happen to people moving heavy loads Anyone can suffer a back injury if they lift a load wrongly, or the weight shifts, or the lifting

is repeated regularly

One of the most common causes of back injury to UNISON members is lifting people This is a major hazard for home care, health care and residential care workers Other UNISON members, such as cleaning, catering, and administrative staff suffer back injury as a result of repeated lifting of heavy objects

Women workers often face an increased risk of back injury from

carrying out similar stooping, lifting, and carrying tasks at work and

at home

Poor manual handling practices is one of a number of

causes of back injury at work Other factors include:

™ Staff shortages

Unsuitable and/or poorly maintained equipment

Poor working environment

a

a

MH Slippery floors

a Lack of training and information

Case Study 4

At a local school one member of the school meals staff is required

to come into school early, before normal school opening, to set up

the kitchen for the day and start the early preparations Part of

her duties involves bringing in the daily provisions order, which is

delivered and left outside the door The order includes large sacks

of vegetables and crates of other foodstuff, which she lifts alone

The school meals worker regularly suffers from back pain and

has taken sick leave on a number of occasions because of this

Employers have a legal duty to prevent back injuries by

assessing manual handling tasks and reducing the risk of injury

by introducing new ways of working, equipment, and training

for staff They must also take account of individual capabilities

and the needs of new or expectant mothers

Under the Manual Handling Regulations employers must: 19

Avoid manual handling operations as far as is reasonably practicable

Assess any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided

Remove or reduce the risk of injury using risk assessment

as the basis for action

Give full training to any employee who has to lift or move any loads (including people)

There is no “safe weight” for lifting Weight is only one

factor that needs to be considered Others include:

The number of times the lifting and moving is repeated

Type and size of the load

Weight distribution

The individual involved

Among the factors that relate to individuals are age, weight, sex,

possible pregnancy, and any previous history of back pain

Safety representatives should ensure that:

The risk of back injury to women workers is considered when manual handling assessments or tasks are carried out

Any inspections of the workplace seeks to identify uncontrolled sources of back strain, and includes checking that members are taking their rest breaks

Adequate tools, equipment, training and information is provided

Reporting and recording arrangements are in place

New and Expectant Mothers