In the growing health care industry, where a complex range of hazards exists, including latex allergy, back injuries, and needlestick injuries, about 80 percent of the work force is female. Increasingly, women are moving into occupations once held exclusively by men, such as the construction trades. In such instances, physiological differences between women and men can translate into occupational hazards, as when women operate equipment designed for male workers of larger stature. Women workers are at disproportionately high risk for musculoskeletal injuries on the job, suffering 63 percent of all work-related repetitive motion injuries. Hazards such as radiation, glycol ethers, lead, and strenuous physical labor can affect a woman's reproductive health, including pregnancy outcomes.
Violence is also a special concern for women workers.
Discriminatory barriers to financial and career advancement have been linked to more frequent physical and psychological symptoms and more frequent visits to the doctor. The most effective way of reducing work stress is through organizational change in the workplace. This holds true for reducing work stress in female and male workers alike. Workplaces that actively discourage sexual discrimination and harassment, and promote family-friendly policies, appear to foster worker loyalty and attachment regardless of gender, studies indicate. Organizational changes effective for reducing job stress among women workers include expanding promotion and career ladders, introducing family-support programs and policies, and enforcing policies against sex discrimination and sexual harassment.