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Dressed to kill

Dressed to kill. Jan Peters Past President, Women’s Engineering Society. Images: www.elcosh.org. Poor PPE. “The limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for women is a critical workplace health and safety issue.”. undermines efforts to protect worker health and safety

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Dressed to kill

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  1. Dressed to kill Jan Peters Past President, Women’s Engineering Society Images: www.elcosh.org

  2. Poor PPE “The limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for women is a critical workplace health and safety issue.” • undermines efforts to protect worker health and safety • barrier to equality of employment opportunity for women

  3. Slow progress 2007 2015 Problems persist as do images Major stock photo search: first image of women & PPE • Daphnet discussion • Phone survey of major suppliers • “We know it’s an issue, it’s not a priority” 2010 survey • Bad, gloves, poor low tech fabric, male fit

  4. Pan network group • Women’s Engineering Society • Women and Manual Trades • Women in Property • Arup • Volunteer driven Woman’s Hour

  5. Voice of women Outreach Networking Celebration

  6. Purpose of the survey • Is there a real issue with PPE for women? • What type of PPE is most problematic? • What could be improved? • Market research for safety boots

  7. Who responded? • 550 responses • Only 25% associated with a women’s network • Spread of ages • Spread of sectors

  8. Who buys PPE?

  9. Must you wear PPE?

  10. How comfortable is your PPE? 45% Uncomfortable 41% Comfortable

  11. A few quotes…. • ‘Shaped for men. Pops open in places. Arms and legs too long’ • ‘Safety shoes in the right size is very difficult‘ • ‘Too big, too heavy’ • ‘Shoes and vest fit OK but the winter jacket is huge’ • ‘It doesn't tend to fit in the right places!’

  12. Ever worn ill-fitting PPE?

  13. Some more quotes… • ‘Overalls fit OK but getting safety shoes in the right size is very difficult. Either women’s are too narrow (and look awful) or the equivalent men’s are too big and don’t fit properly.’ • ‘Shoes are bought to fit me, lab coat is the right size, sleeves a bit long but not a problem safety specs are prescription and so ordered specially’ • ‘Gloves in particular are too big and make it difficult to handle stuff - also they fall off easily’

  14. To what extent does ill-fitting PPE hamper your work?

  15. Even more quotes… • ‘Big clothes can be a safety hazard’ • ‘Oversized gloves make it difficult to work safely or accurately’ • ‘Boots not fitting correctly caused me to stumble on site’ • ‘Jackets too big, sleeves too long….it reaches almost down to my knees so hard to walk up and down banks’ • Found when wearing boiler suits I have had to wear a belt…body length is generally too long, so the crotch ends up around my knees affecting the way I walk.

  16. What style of safety boot?

  17. 1918, 1945, 2010, 2015

  18. Lessons learned • Accessing the supply routes • Timing - recession • Small organisations are vulnerable to the scale of the problem

  19. Policy Agenda • Review PPE standards for gender inclusion • New robust study and data, pan European • Unions, governments, employers and women’s networks must coalesce on the issue

  20. Jan Peters Office@wes.org.uk

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