Beyond single OSH policies: Gender-specific psychosocial hazards in remote work

BackgroundWith the rise of remote work, the boundaries between home and the workplace have become blurred. When it comes to traditional work-family roles, the challenges faced by women and men in remote work and expectations for the future are beginning to diverge.ObjectiveTo investigate, from the perspective of Boundary Theory, gender-specific psychosocial risks and future work preferences related to remote work.MethodsWe used a cross-sectional design in the study. We reached 5002 professionals in Türkiye via the convenience sampling technique. The Pearson chi-square test was used via SPSS 31 to analyze the two research questions.ResultsWomen reported higher levels of "monotony of work" (χ2 = 18.626, p < 0.001), "lack of communication" (χ2 = 4.531, p = 0.035), and "lack of feedback" (χ2 = 7.050, p = 0.009). Conversely, men reported "being in a constant state of work" (χ2 = 12.181, p < 0.001), "family conflict" (χ2 = 13.265, p < 0.001), "lack of technical support from the organization" (χ2 = 7.801, p = 0.006), and "struggling with an increased workload" (χ2 = 6.334, p = 0.013). Moreover, men favored hybrid work (χ2 = 19.831, p < 0.001).ConclusionsThese findings imply that gender-responsive OHS policies, such as the right to disconnect for men and virtual social support for women, are critical for ensuring the sustainability of remote work practices.