When the European Commission unveiled its new Gender Equality Strategy for 2026–2030, it pledged action on emerging issues ranging from cyberviolence to bias in artificial intelligence. Yet one major issue remained largely overlooked: the fact that occupational health and safety policies are still designed around a “male” norm, despite significant gender differences in working realities and exposure to risk.

Menstruation and menopause are a good illustration of this blind spot. Both can affect concentration, fatigue, sleep, thermoregulation, and stress — all classic occupational safety and health factors. Yet they are rarely considered in workplace risk assessments, prevention plans, or occupational health strategies. Conditions affecting millions of workers remain treated as private matters rather than workplace realities.

As someone who spent much of her working life coping with severe menstrual symptoms — while experiencing a relatively mild menopause — and as a mother of two daughters, I find it difficult to accept that predictable and widespread health challenges affecting half of the workforce continue to be ignored.

Making the invisible visible

Looking at health and safety through a gender lens is not just about women. It is a way to make the invisible visible, identify overlooked risks, and ultimately improve working conditions for everyone.

Research by organisations such as the International Labour Organization and EU-OSHA shows that work affects the physical and mental health of men and women in different ways. Some differences stem from the fact that women’s occupational health problems have historically received less recognition. Others arise because men and women tend to work in different sectors or perform different tasks.

Even within the same occupation, risks can diverge. In my father’s Greek village, olive harvesting revealed a clear gender divide. Men performed the “heavy” work of shaking the trees, while women spent hours bent over sorting the fallen olives — repetitive and physically demanding work described as “light” and paid less, yet just as essential. That work exposed women to a hidden toll on their health, alongside the familiar injustice of the gender pay gap.

Evidence from the most recent European Working Conditions Survey, published in 2024 by Eurofound, confirms that workplace health risks remain deeply gendered. Both men and women benefit from improvements in working conditions, but men have seen faster progress in physical working environments. Women, meanwhile, continue to face higher emotional strain and more musculoskeletal problems.

Work intensity has also risen again, affecting women more severely — particularly in public-facing jobs involving high emotional demands. At the same time, the social work environment has shown no improvement since 2010 and has even deteriorated for women.

These inequalities are not static. Several major trends risk making them worse. Europe’s ageing population is placing increasing pressure on workplaces and families. Women, who make up the majority of both formal and informal caregivers, bear the primary burden. As public care systems weaken — through fewer services, stricter eligibility rules, or limited home help — the responsibility of caring for elderly relatives increasingly falls on women. The consequences are well documented: burnout, absenteeism, early exit from the labour market, and widening gender gaps in career progression and pensions.

Climate change adds another layer of occupational risk. Women in manual, outdoor, or public-facing jobs can be particularly vulnerable to heat stress, as hormonal cycles, pregnancy, and menopause can intensify physical exhaustion and mental strain. They may also face greater exposure to harassment, especially during late or isolated shifts in extreme weather conditions. Taken together, these dynamics highlight the urgent need to rethink how occupational health policies address gendered risks.

From blind spots to better policy

Recent initiatives show that these issues are beginning to enter the public debate. In 2023, Spain became the first European country to introduce legal menstrual leave for women experiencing debilitating periods. The measure has since sparked discussions across Europe — in parliaments, local authorities, and workplaces alike. Similar initiatives have emerged in parts of Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Another recent development illustrates how gendered occupational risks are slowly gaining recognition. In early 2026, a French administrative court ruled that the breast cancer of a nurse who had worked night shifts for 25 years could be attributed to her working conditions. Scientific evidence increasingly shows that long-term night work — through the disruption of circadian rhythms and reduced melatonin production caused by exposure to artificial light at night — significantly increases the risk of breast cancer in women. The ruling marks an important step in acknowledging how workplace organisation can affect women’s health in ways that have long been overlooked.

Yet such measures and recognitions remain rare and fragmented, far from becoming standard practice across Europe.

Too often, proposals for gender-specific measures encounter the same objection: that recognising women’s needs might reinforce stereotypes about female fragility. This argument is both tired and misleading. It falsely frames equality and support as opposing goals, suggesting that acknowledging specific health realities somehow undermines women’s emancipation. In practice, the opposite is true. Ignoring these realities forces many workers to endure preventable hardship while pretending that neutrality equals fairness.

Integrating a gender perspective into occupational safety and health is therefore not a niche concern. It is an evidence-based approach to improving prevention, protecting workers, and building more sustainable labour markets. If Europe is serious about addressing the future of work, an ageing workforce, and the pressures of the green and digital transitions, this perspective cannot remain optional. Equality in occupational health and safety is not about special treatment. It is about recognising real risks and designing policies that protect everyone. Without such a shift, Europe will struggle to deliver the fair and sustainable labour markets it claims to champion.

Read more on this topic in the special issue of HesaMag, “Gender matters at work: making the invisible visible”.

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