The Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) has launched a new health and safety guide focused on protecting female employees at work.
The guide identifies workplace hazards and provides advice on how employers and employees can overcome them. It also addresses specifically female concerns such as potential pregnancy hazards.
"Workers in the hospitality trade, many of whom are women, are particularly vulnerable to hazards such as tobacco smoke, which can cause respiratory problems, and excessive noise levels, which can cause temporary or permanent hearing problems," said Daian Holland, the T&G national organiser for women, race and equalities.
Although the guide provides women with a range of information, the union reiterated that the onus for accident prevention lay on employers.
The guide, titled The T&G Guide To Women's Health and Safety: Workplace Hazards and Working Women, will be distributed free of charge to female T&G members.