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Building Better PPE for Women in Construction
Properly fitting personal protective equipment is essential for protecting women in construction while improving comfort, confidence, and worker retention. Expanding research and involving tradeswomen in PPE design can help close longstanding gaps in workplace safety.
Occupational Health & Safety
By Francene Scott Diehl
We have all heard the phrase “dress for success,” but rarely is this applied to personal protective equipment (PPE) in the workplace. Properly fitting PPE for women in construction is a global problem (Lan Oo, 2023).
Women make up approximately 11% of the U.S. construction workforce as of 2025, but not all women in construction work in the trades (Institute for Women’s Policy Research , 2025). Despite several occupations becoming more attractive to women in recent years, this has not included skilled trades in the construction industry where women currently make up less than 5% of the workforce.