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Too noisy to think: Workplaces that make women sick.

June 10, 2002

Working in a noisy environment while trying to do a complex job leads to women having high levels of sickness absence. These are the findings of a recent study by Yitzhak Fried from Wayne State University, USA and colleagues in the US and Israel.

The study, reported in the Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, published on June 18th,, looked at absenteeism in 802 employees working in 21 different manufacturing plants in Israel. Employees included men and women working as computer programmers, mechanical engineers, lab technicians and secretaries.

Typically, employees in complex jobs are absent less than those with simple jobs. However, the authors suggest that when cognitive complexity is combined with a high level of noise it damages health. They found that women in the study working with this combination had higher levels of sickness absence. However, the effects on health may not only affect women. The authors argue that women generally take better care of their health and are more likely to take time off in response to health problems. In the long run men may actually pay a higher price in terms damage to their health.

They argue that employers need to give higher priority to designing quieter environments especially for complex jobs.

British Psychological Society (BPS)