The Activity of Occupational health physicians in relation to the Task of Keeping People Affected by MSD in Employment: a Gender Effect?

Abstract

As part of research into occupational doctors' practices in the field of MSD prevention, the objective is to explore the differences between occupational health physicians in practices between men and women employees' ability to return to work. Diagnosis is based on what they are able to do or not do in their day-to-day life. The way the employees are questioned is often stereotypical depending on family roles and gender-related characteristics: housework for women, doing DIY or gardening for men. A part from this stereotypical style of questioning, the occupation health physician' actions when writing out ability restrictions for men and women are often linked to the employees' work context. Indeed, employees can be exposed unequally to MSDs, and this sometimes leads to real job issues. Yet, underlying these common practices, the way the back-to-work medical visit with a female or male employee is organised differs according to the occupational doctor's gender. One of the main differences is the way the doctors manage their relationship with the employees.