The psychological and practical benefits of well-fitting PPE for women

By Julia Maldonado, Communications Coordinator, CalCIMA

With the increasing diversity of the workforce, there are now 330,000 women employed in the construction industry. How many of those wear clothes or have available Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) made specifically for their body type? And, is it really an issue if it doesn’t fit?

Janeen Oliver, Senior Ready Mix Sales Representative for Catalina Pacific (a CalPortland company) and a third generation ready mixed concrete employee, has experienced multiple instances of struggling to find workwear for women, such as not being able to find women’s work boots or not having large enough pockets in the pants. The lack of availability of women’s workwear in stores forces them to either look online and guess what will fit them, or wear clothes made for men that may be too baggy, and unsafe.

“The biggest thing psychologically is that you feel like a little kid wearing their dad’s clothes,” Oliver said. “It creates a sense of not feeling like you belong, like someone telling you that you don’t matter.” Oliver is also not a fan of making women’s workwear pink, because it makes women stick out even more in the field.

Oliver is not alone. Tobias Pagel, Founder and CEO of women’s exclusive workwear company Libaerty, interviewed many women prior to creating his company and found that there is a true need for well-fitting PPE and workwear for women.

“One very clear common thread (from the interviews) was, ‘We don’t have (women’s workwear), we do need it, I don’t want anything fancy, definitely don’t want anything pink, I just want what that guy has but made to fit my body,’” Pagel said. Not only are oversized safety vests, helmets, or footware damaging for a woman’s self-esteem, but it can actually be dangerous to have loose gear. Oliver noted that some of the issues that have come up with loose-fitting workwear include maneuvering through tight places such as narrow walkways, being caught on fenders, between concrete trucks, and the clothes not laying on the body the right way. Not to mention conveyors and other moving parts at a mine site.

So, why is women’s workwear so hard to find?

There are many reasons that Pagel attributes to the lack of women’s workwear; one big reason is gender bias. In a male dominated industry, men may not see the need for clothing in different sizes because they already have the clothing made to their size. Others may not recognize that there is an issue at all. It’s a misconception that because it meets OSHA standards, it’s good enough for everyone.

“I met with a health and safety professional who has been in the industry for 25 years… during the call, he mentioned that he was embarrassed that up until a year ago, he was totally oblivious about this entire topic. It never crossed his mind,” Pagel said.

Pagel found that women and men across the board are unaware that this is an issue, or women in nontraditional employment roles might find there to be more important, higher pressing issues that they deal with, and ill-fitting workwear is on the backburner. Other reasons include a lack of regulation, or employer’s disbelief in the absence of complaints.

Companies like Libaerty are taking steps toward becoming more inclusive toward women. Oliver notes that some manufacturers started making clothing more proportional and that cinches at the waist. Having tighter workwear is not for aesthetics, but for practicality.

“Some companies are also making maternity clothing; it’s very promising,” Oliver said.

There’s still a long way to go to improve the availability of women’s workwear, but companies are taking steps in the right direction. n