Many younger women worked in munitions factories, where they were known as "Munitionettes."

This work was dirty and dangerous, in unheated and noisy factory sheds. There was little, if any, regulation regarding the chemicals and fumes the workers were exposed to, with lax procedures and little protective equipment. A large number of women suffered from reactions to these substances, as well as from the stresses and strains of the hard and heavy physical work.

Accidents in munitions factories were common but news of these was suppressed to keep morale high. In January 1917 an explosion at a TNT plant in East London killed 73 people and destroyed hundreds of nearby homes. The TNT turned workers' skin yellow; such women were called "canaries."