Resources on gender and sex perspective on field safety

SIOS-KC, AWI and APECS co-organised a session at the Arctic Safety Conference on 10th November 2021: Women on Arctic Fieldwork. This session aimed to start a discussion on the gender and sex specific safety issues women face during fieldwork in the Arctic. More generally the session also aimed to raise awareness that field and safety equipment, as well as safety manuals, procedures and briefings, are generally designed with the idea that the people conducting Arctic fieldwork fit into a "standard" mould, which is based on an average European male. This outdated view of workers in the Arctic excludes people of diverse gender identities, sexual preferences, ethnic backgrounds and disabilities and puts them at increased risk of injury and harm during fieldwork in cold and remote environments. 

The session was streamed on Zoom and a video recording has been published by APECS:

Women on Arctic Fieldwork from APECS Webinars on Vimeo.

 

Below is a list of the literature we used in preparation for this session. If you would like to contribute to this list please send your references to Inger Jennings on logistics@sios-svalbard.org.

 

Papers, articles, books etc on women's occupational health and safety

Bracken, L, & Mawdsley, E (2004). ‘Muddy glee’: rounding out the picture of women and physical geography fieldwork. Area, 36(3), 280-286.

Clancy, KBH, Nelson, RG, Rutherford, JN & Hinde, K (2014) Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. PLoS ONE 9(7), https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.01021…

Ducharme, R. E. (1975). Problem tools for women. Industrial Engineering, 7(9), 46-50.

Kauppinen, K, Kumpulainen, R, Houtman, I & Copsey, S (2003) Gender issues in safety and health at work - A review. European Agency for Safety and Health at work report. https://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/report-gender-issues-safety-and-…  Last accessed 05.05.2021

Kelly, C (2019) NASA’s Spacesuit Issue Is All Too Familiar for Working Women. USA Today, March 28, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/03/28/nasa-anne-mcclain-christ…

Messing, K (2021) Bent out of Shape: Shame, Solidarity, and Women’s Bodies at Work. Toronto: Between the Lines

Mital, A, & Kilbom, A (1992). Design, selection and use of hand tools to alleviate trauma of the upper extremities: Part II—The scientific basis (knowledge base) for the guide. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 10(1-2), 7-21. https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/016981419290043Y?token=0890EB…

Nash, M, Nielsen, HEF, Shaw, J, King, M, Lea, M-A & Bax, N (2019) “Antarctica just has this hero factor…”: Gendered barriers to Australian Antarctic research and remote fieldwork. PLoS ONE 14(1), https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.02099…;

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (1999) Providing Safety and Health Protection for a Diverse Construction Workforce: Issues and Ideas. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 99-140. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-140/default.html Last accessed 05.05.2021

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (2001) Women's Safety and Health Issues At Work. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2001-123. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2001-123/default.html Last accessed 05.05.2021

Nelson, RG, Rutherford, JN, Hinde, K &  Clancy, KBH (2017) Signaling Safety: Characterizing Fieldwork Experiences and Their Implications for Career Trajectories.  American Anthropologist 119(4), https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12929

UN (2021) COVID-19: Emerging gender data and why it matters. https://data.unwomen.org/resources/covid-19-emerging-gender-data-and-wh…

Wagner, H, Kim, AJ, & Gordon, L (2013). Relationship between personal protective equipment, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction of women in the building trades. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(10), 04013005. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0000739?…
 

Codes of conduct and best practice

APECS Field Code of Conduct: https://www.apecs.is/diversity-equity-inclusion/field-code-of-conduct.h…

European Institute for Gender Equality: Gender-sensitive language toolkit. https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-sensitive-communication

Greene, S, Ashley, K, Dunne, E, Edgar, K, Giles, S & Hanson, E (2020) Toilet stops in the field: An educational primer and recommended best practices for field-based teaching. 10.31219/osf.io/gnhj2. 

Greene, SE, Antell, GS, Atterby, J, Bhatia, R, Dunne, EM, Giles, S, Groh, SS, Hanson, EM, Hilton, J, Knight, H, Kraftl, P, Morgan, E, Rhodes, I, Rockey, FGT, Singh, S, Stevenson, CT, Sun, S, Warren, BA, Wheeley, JR & Yamoah, KA (2021) Safety and Belonging in the Field: A Checklist for Educators. https://doi.org/10.31223/X53P6H

Further reading

Caroline Criado Pérez (2019) Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Vintage, ISBN 1784706280.

Dr. Sarah Rugheimer - Women in STEM resources: A repository of peer-reviewed research and resources discussing the challenges facing white women and men and women of color in science. http://www.sarahrugheimer.com/Women_in_STEM_Resources.html