Research Profiles - Your gender, your job, your health: what's the connection?

A message from the Scientific Director of CIHR's Institute of Gender and Health

Every job, from childcare to construction to working in a hospital, comes with health risks. In fact, on-the-job injuries resulted in an average of nearly 500 deaths in Canada annually between 2002 and 2004, and some 300,000 compensated claims for lost time. And the risks are different for men and women: men have significantly higher on-the-job injury rates than women, on average, due largely to the kind of work they perform. Some researchers argue that this is partly due to assumptions that shape the way we measure occupational health.

In order to improve Canadians' safety at work, we need to take a closer look how gender influences work-related health risks. The researchers highlighted in this month's research profiles are doing just that.

Dr. Judith MacIntosh is examining workplace bullying, an often over-looked phenomenon that can erode a person's confidence and have a wide range of negative health effects. In Under Pressure, we describe Dr. MacIntosh's research into the ways that women maintain their health while being bullied at work.

In Putting Workplace Injuries on the Map, we look at Dr. Curtis Breslin's research on geographic variations in work injuries. His research is helping industry and government partners identify workplace injury "hotspots" and uncover the causes of geographic- and gender-specific work risks.

As the research in these profiles illustrates, there are steps we can take now to help alleviate work-related health risks, starting with the way we study occupational health. Researchers are just beginning to draw the connections between work, gender and health. We must develop sound strategies for reducing the health risks experienced by women and men in the workforce.

Dr. Joy Johnson
Scientific Director
CIHR Institute of Gender and Health