Women’s WorkWear, Enough Choice?

Women’s Work Clothing

The percentage of women in the construction industry stands at around 10%. This figure does not tell the whole story as it is estimated that only 1% of Women make up the workforce on “site”! We wanted to find out more.

What’s going on?

The number of female employees in many male-dominated work environments is on the increase. For example, within the construction industry, women are predicted to make up a quarter (30%) of the UK’s construction workforce by 2025, an increase of 10% from 2010. However, it is the case that women are not being represented on site and in the manual sub-sector of the construction industry. This is an issue that is being broached by women’s equality campaigners and we can all help by changing attitudes to gender equality and raising awareness about this topic.

What are the issues concerning PPE and Women’s Work Clothing?

As industries remain predominately male-focused, women can often get neglected when it comes to issuing workwear, uniforms and PPE, often leaving them with ill-fitting, uncomfortable, and impractical products that could compromise their safety and reduce productivity.

Functionality, working comfort and protection are paramount when it comes to selecting PPE and workwear for anyone. The problem is that because of the low % of women requiring workwear (albeit 1% of the construction workforce which is around 30,000) there doesn’t seem to be a lot of choice out there for the female construction worker. There are a handful of stockists which are supplying ladies’ workwear but is it enough?

Continuing the debate

At PPE Work Solutions we have been approached by a UK Manufacturer that supplies safety footwear including a range for women. This introduction has prompted us to question our current availability of workwear and PPE taking into consideration the female workers in the UK. We are busy adding lines of workwear to our new website and would be interested in any requests or comments regarding female workwear that we could be supplying. We are currently retailing ladies work trousers by Dickies and general work and leisure wear by Regatta, but we would be interested in broadening our horizons on this front.

Thank you to all our readers who have read this blog post. If we have added to this challenging topic in anyway we are pleased as the more discussion that surrounds this issue the better for the future of gender equality in construction in the UK.

If you have any questions just give us a call.

Or click to browse our female workwear!