Gender
An ILO publication “Women at Work, Trends 2016” examined data for 178 countries and concludes that inequality persists between women and men in the global labour market. The report concludes that women are more likely to become, and remain, unemployed, have fewer chances to participate in the labour force and, when they do, they often have to accept lower quality jobs.
The report further states that women continue to work longer hours per day than men in both paid and unpaid work, and many are employed in more informal work arrangements. The report further states that, on average, women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 60% of all working women are in agriculture, often in activities which are time- and labour-intensive, and which may be unpaid or poorly paid. Youth unemployment remains a global concern but young women face the highest risk of unemployment which, in some regions, is almost double that for young men.
What is NIOH doing about Gender in the workplace?
Acknowledging the differences between men and women workers in terms of their societal roles, expectations, responsibilities, biological differences and employment patterns plays a key role in identifying the different physical and psychological workplace risks they may each be exposed to in the workplace. In order to create more comprehensive and effective Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) policies and prevention strategies the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has created ten key guidelines to mainstream gender in the workplace. NIOH published a paper that provides a brief overview of these gender-sensitive OSH guidelines.