Solutions for improving women’s health in the workplace

The first step is to develop a matrix of risks specific to women’s health, similar to the one used to evaluate occupational risks. Agencies such as the Institut national de santé publique du Québec make tools available to evaluate psychosocial risks in the workplace. (3) For example, you could conduct a brief survey to evaluate various aspects of your company, including:

• job security
• recognition
• work overload
• health and safety prevention activities
• measures aimed at ensuring work-life balance
• harassment
• any other aspects that could affect working women

After analyzing the psychosocial risks women tend to face, the next step is to raise awareness among everyone in the company. This will make it easier to implement both corrective and preventive measures. In addition to the risk assessment matrix, creating peer support groups (e.g., for menopausal women) and organizing events focusing on women’s health could prove useful. (4)

A number of measures can be implemented to improve women’s health in the workplace. While some can be a little more complex, others are very simple and can be readily implemented. You’re in the best position to determine what can be done in the short, medium and long term, for example:

• Adopt flexible work policies or adapt existing policies to foster work-family balance.
• Ask your group insurance plan to do more to meet women’s health needs, especially when it comes to mental and reproductive health. (5)
• Show women your support, in particular by supplying free feminine hygiene products and offering time off for painful menstrual periods or additional breaks. (6) For example, Polytechnique Montréal plans to redesign bathroom stalls to include sinks where students can rinse out their menstrual cups in privacy. (7)
• Facilitate access to healthcare professionals by having nurses or a clinic on site, or by promoting access to telemedicine. (8)

Ensuring women’s health in the workplace is your legal and moral responsibility as an employer, but it is also a question of fairness. Improving women’s well-being by creating an inclusive work environment can also reduce healthcare costs, improve productivity and foster the retention of trained and qualified employees. Investing in women’s health will also have a positive impact on your image as an employer and on clients’ opinion of you. It’s a win-win situation.

Read the other two articles in the “Women’s health and the workplace” series for more information:

• Beyond the bikini: A holistic approach to women’s health
• Psychosocial risks at work: Women’s invisible reality