The Gender Difference in the Occupational Hazards and Injuries of Cleaning Workers and Janitors

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the accident characteristics according to the gender of the injured workers in building cleaning and to reflect them in the Industrial Accident Prevention Policy. Background: An analysis of industrial accidents is an essential process for establishing systematic industrial accident prevention measures. In order to establish industrial accident prevention measures for workers effectively, it is necessary to analyze accident characteristics by job type for workers who do the same work. Method: In this study, we analyzed the accident characteristics of 1,645 janitors who were approved of work-related injuries in 2015. We also analyzed the characteristics according to gender by dividing them into worker-related factors and accident-related factors. Results: The accidents caused to the janitors showed different characteristics according to gender, age, work experience, agency of accident, and distribution of original cause materials. In other words, 70.2% occurred to workers over 60 years old and 56.2% occurred to unskilled workers with less than a year of work experience. In the case of accident pattern, 79.1% occurred in tripping (slip) hazards, and 68.2% of accidents occurred on the floor (including the ground) and the stairs, indicating that the accident occurred most frequently during cleaning work on the floor or stairs. Conclusion and Application: The results of the study on the accident characteristics of the janitors can be used as basic data for systematic preventive measures against accidents occurring to the elderly female workers in the service industry.