Women and occupational diseases. The case of Belgium

This report highlights the discriminatory impact on women of the system for the declaration and recognition of occupational diseases in Belgium. There is one striking statistic: women represent less than 10% of recognised cases of occupational diseases.

'The list of diseases recognised corresponds more to male jobs in the traditional industries than to the reality of contemporary work', according to Laurent Vogel, the report’s author. Very widespread health problems in jobs where women are strongly represented – cleaning, maintenance, storage, etc. – are generally ignored.