Psycho-social hazards, precarious employment, occupational health policy and practice: through a gender lens

1
Psycho-social hazards, precarious employment,
occupational healthpolicy and practice through
a gender lens

• Katherine Lippel
• University of Ottawa
• CRC in OHS Law

Proyecto Araucaria seminar, Santiago, January
11th - 13th , 2010
2
Themes of this seminar
3
Importance of gender considerations

• Men and women do different jobs
• Even when they occupy the same positions, their
  working conditions are different
• Because of biological differences
• Because of socially driven differences
• These differences are important in understanding
  occupational health
• Messing, 1998, 2003, 2006

4
Examples from a Québec study(EQCOTESST)

• Representative sample of the Québec working
  population (2007-2008)
• Telephone interviews, approx. 30 minutes
• Minimum 8 weeks work minimum 15 hours per week
• 15 years or older
• N 5240
• 53,1 Men 46,9 women
• All results significant (.05) unless otherwise
  mentioned
• Preliminary results

5
(No Transcript)
6
Psycho-social hazards and gender
7
Occupational violence
8
Gender and exposure to occupational violence
(n.s.)
9
Prevalence of psychological harassment/education/g
ender
10
Work family balance

• Working conditions can support or undermine a
  workers ability to juggle work and family
  responsibilities
• Women assume a greater responsibility for family
  obligations (care work domestic work)
• When working conditions impede reconciliation of
  these obligations, they constitute psycho-social
  hazards (i.e. unpredictable scheduling) that
  adversely affect women workers in particular.
• Cloutier, 2009 Albertsen et al 2008 Williams,
  2008.

11
Precarious employment
12
Precarious employment/gender
n.s
13
Prevalence of psychologicalharassment and job
insecurity
14
Prevalence of psychologicalharassment and
precarious contracts
(n.s.)
15
Prevalence of sexual harassment and precarious
contracts
16
Similar results

• Gender differences in prevalence of psychological
  and sexual harassment
• Parent-Thirion et al (Eurofound), 2007
• Job insecurity and psychological harassment
• Baillen DeWitte, 2009
• Sexual harassment and temporary employment
• Lamontagne et al, 2009
• Baillen et al, 2006

17
Health associations
18
Psychological distress and psychological
harassment
19
Work accidents and psychological harassment
20
Prevention
21
Gender differences in perceptions

• Women and men perceive and interpret situations
  of harassment differently
• Depending on the gender of the observer
• Depending on the gender of the observed
• Salin, 2008
• What are the implications for inspectorates,
  worker representatives and health and safety
  committees?

22
Challenges

• How can inspectorates, decision makers and worker
  representatives be better equipped to deal with
  psycho-social hazards?
• Is specific legislation necessary or useful?
• How can we best implement policy in a way that
  takes into consideration the effect of gender in
  relation to
• exposure
• evaluation of risks
• health consequences