AT - Gender mainstreaming - Labour inspection awarded the national excellence in administration award for its innovative programme 13.07.2011
The Austrian labour inspection was awarded with the national excellence in administration award for its programme for gender mainstreaming into its activities.
The programme has been in place for seven years and was introduced following a Total Quality Management Project, which highlighted the need for systems for gender mainstreaming in order to avoid gender stereotyping in the inspection process.
A gender mainstreaming framework and strategy was put in place for the Labour Inspectorate, resulting in information, a survey, tools (indicators and checklists) which was implemented through a gender mainstreaming group and an Intranet portal. Actions include training for Inspectors, public awareness raising and designing promotional material , the provision of data and reports, providing gender mainstreaming experts and setting up network, and setting gender mainstreaming benchmarks. Gender mainstreaming approaches, along with age sensitivity and taking into account a migration background, were subsequently integrated into the national Austrian OSH Strategy (2007-2012). Critical success factors identified were: having a clear mandate from senior management, introducing mixed teams with gender mainstreaming experts, the introduction of gender mainstreaming standards, and the provision of training and information.
The labour inspection has also mainstreamed gender into its recruitment policies, procurement and into its advance planning at all levels.
More information on http://www.bka.gv.at/site/cob__42948/6588/default.aspx
EU-OSHA resources on mainstreaming a gender perspective into occupational safety and health:
Access the women at work Web section of EU-OSHA
Report - Gender issues in safety and health at work
Factsheet 42 - Gender issues in safety and health at work and Factsheet 43 - Including gender issues in risk assessment
Workshop on gender mainstreaming conclusions: Report - Mainstreaming gender into occupational safety and health
Two publications are currently in the pipeline to address gender and OSH, a state-of-the-art review on women at work, and an analysis of selected examples of good practice in gender mainstreaming and OSH, which includes the Austrian example.
