Introduction/framework/objectives

Most professionals working in Occupational Health and Safety have some notions regarding the distribution of Occupational Accidents versus gender, however, not all have had the opportunity to consult reasonably up-to-date data on this subject.

The aim of this review was to clearly summarize not only some articles that addressed this subject, but also to have access to national and European statistical data.

Methodology

This is a Bibliographic Review, initiated through a search carried out in May 2023 in the databases “CINALH plus with full text, Medline with full text, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register, Nursing and Allied Health Collection: comprehensive, MedicLatina and RCAAP”. The websites of Pordata and the National Institute of Statistics were also consulted.

Content

There are anatomical and physiological differences between genders, namely body size and shape, musculature and metabolism, which can modulate certain occupational issues, such as choosing and staying in certain jobs. Incidentally, in the same section of work, sometimes both genders take on different tasks and/or perform them in different ways.

98.8% of accidents in absolute numbers occur in males, as this is obviously much more prevalent in the industrial and construction sectors, areas where there is a higher accident rate.

Discussion and Conclusions

Accidents at work are more frequent and serious among men, not only due to the type of tasks that exist in positions predominantly assumed by this gender, but also due to the personality and influence of society and culture, which generally encourages more in this context to need to defy danger and/or be more acceptable not following the rules.

Adherence to the proposed Safety measures varies with the Perception of Risk and the influence of the work team, management and society. As more of this global interference is taken into account, the greater the ability of the Occupational Health and Safety team to mitigate the incidence and severity of Occupational Accidents and thus obtain a safer workplace, and these measures must be different between the male and female sexes.

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