The data gap in Canadian women's occupational health

Information on occupational health in Canada is potentially available from a number of databases, including those held by workers' compensation boards and Statistics Canada. This paper considers the feasibility of using these sources to analyse women's occupational health problems. It proceeds by identifying common sources of women's suffering, using as source material qualitative case studies derived from the academic literature in several disciplines, including sociology, ergonomics, industrial relations and psychology. Three common sources of suffering were identified: ill-defined job requirements, multiple low-level hazards and isolation. Evaluating the capacity of the data sources to reflect these risks reveals that unmined information exists on some points, and that relevant data remain to be gathered.