long (Chamberland et al., 1998). The same physical load may exert
greater strain on the average woman than on the average man, since
women's average lifting strength is only 50% of men's (Vingård and
Kilbom, 2001), although the difference for pushing and pulling in
the horizontal plane is smaller (Snook and Ciriello, 1991). However,
differences within a sex are much greater than differences between
the average values for each sex; there is great overlap between women
and men for all important physical differences. When designing
tools, both the difference and the degree of overlap between women
and men are important, if one wishes to minimize repetitive strain
injuries attributable to hand-tool interactions (McDiarmid et al.,
2000; Messing, 2004).
Women's and men's reproductive systems differ greatly. Women
menstruate, become pregnant and nurse children, and these processes
may be affected by workplace exposures. Men produce sperm, and
this process is very sensitive to exposure to chemicals, vibration and
radiation.
There may be sex differences in metabolism of toxins, but little
knowledge on this is available (Setlow et al., 1998; Wizemann and
Purdue, 2001). It has been hypothesized that the average woman is
at greater risk of harm from fat-soluble chemicals because of a higher
proportion of fat tissue, thinner skin and slower metabolism (Meding,
1998). Women are said to have an average of 25% fat by body weight,
compared to 15% for men (Parker, 2000). However, even if body fat
does prove to play a role, it is unwise to presume that an average sex
difference applies to all or even most individuals in a population,
(Messing, 2004). Exogenous hormones have different effects on
women and men (Nilsson, 2000). No studies have carefully dissected
out the relative contribution of differences in exposures, body size,
fat composition and hormones to metabolism of chemical toxins.
Also, the percent of fat varies among women and men according to
age, physical fitness and training (Clarkson and Going, 1996). When
In order to make
the workplace
accessible to
women and
men with no
discrimination,
employers must
take into account
diversity among
employees related
to both biological
sex and gender
differences
G
ender
e
quality
, W
ork
and
H
ealtH
: a r
evieW
of
tHe
e
vidence