Abstract
This paper tries to establish linkages between gender and the environment. The approach which has been chosen is that of occupational safety and health (OSH) and environmental protection. An attempt is made to shed light on the conditions of female employees as compared to their male colleagues in terms of environmental tasks assigned, injuries suffered and accidents linked to machines which may be hard to use particularly for female workers. A survey of 100 employees from 10 firms from the manufacturing of machine-parts sector in China and Indonesia was conducted to investigate the issues. In Indonesian surveyed enterprises, women experience more injuries than men. Both in China and in Indonesia, accidents due to machines which are hard to use for a worker concern men more than women. Findings from China reveal that even if women are better than men in the implementation of environmental protection measures, they are simply denied a chance to show it, because they are under-represented in management positions and it is by being in top-management jobs that one can make a difference in environmental protection. This result has direct implications in terms of missed opportunities in productivity gains for enterprises.