How gender can impact your MSD risk

October 5, 2023

image of a woman standing in a warehouse with others working in background

Do you consider gender and sex differences when designing your workplace? It's important to recognize and understand that in your workplace there are a range of needs to address.

"Research on how working conditions affect our health has typically focused on men. This is especially the case for anthropometric data, which informs things like equipment design, storage principles, and personal protective equipment. The few studies on women focus on more stereotypical or traditional sectors, such as health care, hospitality and textiles," says WSPS Consultant Sarah Hobbs. "But these days, women represent almost half of the Canadian workforce and work in all industry sectors."

Claims statistics indicate that men typically report injuries in their low backs, whereas women predominantly report injuries in their upper bodies, including necks, shoulders, and wrists. This is partially due to differences in anatomy and stature, as well as traditional workplace roles (e.g. more physical work for men, and more computer work for women). However, we're starting to see less traditional gender roles across all workplaces, with men and women completing similar tasks. Injury data on the other hand has yet to keep up.

Recent research shows that gender and sex differences are continuing to play a role in our workplaces, such as the CSA Study on Women's Experiences with PPE in the Workplace, or the ongoing research on gender, work and health at the Institute for Work and Health. Both point to the fact that more research focused on the female population is needed. Without understanding the key differences between the genders/sexes, hazards can easily be missed.

To ensure both genders/sexes are considered within your health and safety program, keep these seven best practices in mind.

Review your data for injury trends. Try to find connections between sex, gender, location/task and injury. Do you see different injury rates among men and women doing the same job? Do you have more women working in one location versus men in another? Where are the injury hotspots?
Include MSDs during monthly inspections. Look for modifications workers have made to their workstation. These homemade remedies (e.g. a monitor stacked on books, duct tape blunting the corner of a worksurface, a milk crate to stand on) are tell-tale signs that something's not right. Ensure all joint health and safety committee (JHSC) members or health and safety representatives are trained on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and ergonomics, to help inform their inspections.
Watch employees for a couple of minutes to get a sense of the repetition involved in the task. How far does the worker have to reach? How high? How low? How neutral is the required posture? Are they lifting or moving heavy items? Are they showing any physical discomfort when performing the task? Ask the workers for input and consistently review whether there are discrepancies between the sexes. It's possible that the work area or equipment could be designed to fit one sex better than the other, so this feedback can greatly assist with making proper changes.
Rotate people through tasks or jobs so they're not performing the same movements all the time. It's important to use a range of muscle groups. Similarly, ensure that regular breaks are taken to rest those muscles as needed.
Encourage open communication so workers feel comfortable reporting any discomfort or hazard. Ensure staff know when and where to report a hazard, as well as who to report their concerns to - their supervisor, manager, etc. Similarly, conduct a discomfort survey, such as this downloadable form from the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario, so that staff can easily indicate where they are feeling discomfort.
Make multi-user workstations as adjustable as possible. The physical size of a person is a key consideration, so make sure people can work at their optimum height. Ensure that a variety of equipment is available, such as hand tools in different sizes or keyboards of different widths, so that workers can choose based on their need.
Educate all employees on ergonomics and MSD prevention. Workers need to understand its importance, the need to adjust workstations and equipment wherever possible, and to speak up at the first signs of discomfort. Include prevention tips on health and safety boards or internal websites to keep workers aware.

How WSPS can help

Connect with an ergonomist for personalized support.

Training

Invite a WSPS ergonomics specialist to conduct a 2-hour onsite Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) Awareness session.
Learn how to effectively complete office ergonomic assessments, as well as determine practical solutions to MSD risks: Conducting Office Ergonomic Assessments (1 day in-person training).

Resources