Natalia Fdez.
The day “Generational and gender diversity in PRL: from evidence to action”, organized by the Regional Institute of Safety and Health at Work (IRSST), brought together prevention professionals this Thursday to analyze how to integrate diversity, especially generational and gender, into occupational health and safety policies.
Fraternidad‑Muprespa participated through the intervention of Natalia Fernández Laviada, Deputy Director General of Prevention, Quality and Communication, who offered a complete presentation on the gender perspective in Safety and Health at Work in the second table of the day: “Risk assessment and its prevention with a gender focus”, presented and moderated by Javier Bailon, from the IRSST-University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) Chair and in which he also participated Elena Cascante, president of the 50plus Association, promoter of the Generacciona initiative and Managing Partner of the GT Observatory.
Health with a gender perspective: an evidence-based need
Laviada opened his intervention by recalling the WHO definition of health, as “physical, mental and social well-being combined with the absence of illnesses and diseases”, but emphasizing that the disease, as a single etiology, contradicts reality by being subject to numerous conditions that act differently in the body of men and women, with different consequences depending on age, social class, work, nutrition or social relationships.
From there, he articulated five compelling reasons that justify the mandatory incorporation of the gender perspective in prevention: for social justice, regulatory compliance, biological differences determined by sex, social differences derived from gender, and significant benefits for companies.
Biological and social differences and their impact
One of the most notable blocks of the presentation was the one dedicated to biological differences and their impact on occupational health. Laviada recalled that there are differences in anthropometry, physiology, lung capacity, muscle mass, metabolism or hormonal characteristics, and that science has historically ignored these variables. He also highlighted that in more than 700 diseases the diagnostic delay is greater in women and that it takes twice as long to diagnose certain chronic pathologies.
In the social aspect, she described social conditions derived from gender, such as stereotypes, double roles, wage gap, glass ceilings, sticky floors, precariousness in feminized sectors or the burden of care. “All of this“, he explained, ““increases exposure to psychosocial risks, stress, anxiety and sleep disorders”to add that ““one in ten women consumes anxiolytics daily”and 67% of these drugs are consumed by women, which shows the need for real conciliation and flexibility policies.
Androcentrism in prevention: invisible risks
Laviada also drew attention to androcentrism in prevention, which translates into PPE, tools, machines, furniture, exposure limit values... designed or scaled for them, as well as the studies, research or statistics still necessary from a perspective and visibility of women.
He encouraged organizations to request help and analysis of accidents by sex from their Social Security Collaborators; of its prevention services, epidemiological studies and risk assessments disaggregated by sex and position; and to carry out risk assessments and investigate accidents with a gender perspective.
“This is how legal obligations are met in equality plans, harassment protocols and realistic action plans in the short, medium and long term, not out of fear of a fine from the Labor Inspection, but out of sincere conviction with the benefits resulting from doing things well in companies.”, he concluded.
Also participating in the day were María Torres, Remedios Menéndez, Aránzazu Roldán, Silvia Muñoz and Laura Lorenzo, from the IRSST chair and the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH), and Beatriz Rodriguez, from the chair of occupational risk prevention at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA).
The Deputy Minister of Economy of the Community of Madrid,Macarmen Tejera, was in charge of closing the day, thanking it for its celebration and the key importance of putting into practice what was learned with technical rigor. “We must consider digital transformation with ethical transparency, putting people at the center and humanizing processes“.”Prevention of occupational risks", he concluded, "It is quality of employment and it is social well-being”.
