Gender differences in occupational hazard exposures within the same occupation: A nationally representative analysis in South Korea

Abstract

Objective: Occupational health researchers have often treated gender as a confounder in epidemiologic studies, but gender may influence exposure profiles. This study investigated gender differences in occupational hazard exposures within the same occupation.

Methods: We analyzed the 6^th Korean Working Conditions Survey (2020), a nationally representative dataset from South Korea. After restricting the study population to 22 511 full-time wage workers, we assessed 18 self-reported occupational exposures (4 physical, 4 chemical, 1 biological, 6 musculoskeletal, 3 psychosocial). To create matched samples, each man was matched with woman in the same occupational and industrial codes using `nearest neighbor matching` based on the propensity scores, considering age, education, employment status, the number of subordinates, and company size. This resulted in a matched study population of 3918 male and 3918 female workers in 403 occupations. Conditional logistic regression was applied to examine gender differences within the same occupation, adjusting for other covariates.

Results: We found persistent gender differences in occupational hazard exposures, even after matching of men and women within the same occupation and industry based on propensity scores. Men reported a higher prevalence of exposure to physical (eg, loud noise) and chemical factors (eg, chemical products), while women were more likely to be exposed to psychosocial factors (eg, handling angry clients). The findings on musculoskeletal factors were mixed, with men being more exposed to standing and women to repetitive hand movements.

Conclusions: Gender should be considered when planning interventions to reduce occupational harmful exposures, even within the same occupation.