Two out of three women experience moderate to severe symptoms during menopause. In combination with other work-related exposures, this may contribute to an increased risk of sickness absence, reduced work ability, and early exit from working life, including disability.
Several research communities emphasize that organizations with a high proportion of female employees have considerable potential to strengthen workforce participation through systematic adaptation to women’s life phases. This need is further intensified by demographic developments, with an increasing proportion of older individuals and stagnation in the working-age population. The health and care sector is already experiencing this pressure.
There is therefore a need for innovative measures that enable employees who are able and willing to work longer to actually do so. The Women’s Work Environment Committee highlights the need for better information about menopause-related challenges and examples of workplace adjustments. They emphasize that the greatest potential lies in strengthening systematic occupational health and safety (OHS) efforts, particularly in female-dominated occupations.he main objective of the project is to identify concrete, evidence-based, and feasible measures that can help reduce sickness absence and prevent early exit from the workforce among women experiencing menopause.
The measures will be developed as an integrated part of organizations’ systematic health, safety, and environment (HSE/OHS) work and will particularly target the reduction of combined exposures related to ergonomic factors, psychosocial and emotional demands and organizational conditions. The project consists of two work packages 1) a qualitative mapping in municipalities and 2) development of measures
