Sex & Occupational Injuries and Illnesses  

By: Steven Babitsky, Esq.

There is currently little hard information on the sex differences between men and women suffering workers’ compensation injuries.

A study in Disability Rehabilitation entitled Understanding the Role of Sex Differences in Work Injuries concluded that:

Work-injured women were significantly younger, more educated, more likely to be single, had more pre-injury comorbidities, and worked in less physically demanding occupations as compared to work-injured men. Women’s injuries were more often a result of routine job tasks and of gradual onset. Women had worse long-term outcomes including job stability and post-injury income. In multivariate analyses, being female was independently associated with a negative employer response and greater future work concerns.

John D. Meyer MD, MPH is on the forefront of studying occupational injuries and illnesses in women. He has studied occupational risk factors and the psychosocial hazards of work for women. Dr. Meyer will be presenting the Occupational Injuries & Illnesses in Women: Latest Developments at the SEAK 33rd Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Medicine Conference to be held on July16-18, 2013 on Cape Cod, MA.

Dr. Meyer will discuss the factors that affect the incidence and severity of women’s injuries at work, including physiological, endocrine, ergonomic, social and educational aspects, and their occupational distribution. He will discuss common occupational illnesses and injuries in women, including musculoskeletal, skin, respiratory, reproductive, and endocrine disorders. Dr. Meyer will offer practical suggestions for effectively dealing with concerns in older women workers, and will review future directions and emerging hazards in women’s occupational health.

For additional information about the SEAK National Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Medicine Conference.

Steven Babitsky, Esq. is the conference leader.