It’s been called the “pink it and shrink it” approach — and the result is ill-fitting and uncomfortable personal protective equipment (PPE) for women.
In spite of calls for change over the last several decades, women continue to get the short end of the stick often when it comes to PPE, which can compromise their safety.
The research study Expanding Opportunities for Canadian Agriculture by Understanding the Experience of Farm Women, conducted by Farm Management Canada, which the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association contributed to, found safety equipment is a common challenge for women in agriculture, with 68 per cent of farm women struggling to find PPE that fits them. Thirty-nine per cent of farm women say safety apparel for women is more expensive than men’s.
Read Also
Deere’s Tier 4 engines get B30 upgrade
John Deere has just announced it is increasing the biodiesel approval rating on its Final Tier 4 diesel engines from B20 to B30.
Of course, women in agriculture are far from alone when it comes to challenges with PPE. The findings echo sentiments that women in various industries have voiced for decades.
According to the CSA Group report, Canadian Women’s Experiences with Personal Protective Equipment in the Workplace, despite evidence that poorly designed and ill-fitting PPE can potentially lead to serious workplace injuries or even death, “women continue to be differentially impacted by workplace hazards.”
“The evidence paints a very clear picture of the issue and that we really need to do something about it,” says Jennifer Teague, CSA Group vice-president for standards research and education.
“We need to be asking why has this gone on for so long, and why does it have to be so hard.”
The CSA Group report found that 50 per cent of women say their PPE does not fit properly, 43 per cent say it is uncomfortable, and 35 per cent say the availability of women-specific PPE is inadequate. Many women confirmed sustaining injuries as a result of their PPE, and when asked to what extent their PPE hampered them at work, 85 per cent of respondents reported being significantly hampered.
To make do, many women make DIY adjustments to their PPE, even using duct tape to shorten fall-arrest gear, which can lead to other safety risks.
“Women are often trying to fix one problem with PPE but potentially causing another,” explains Teague. “One of the important things to note is that if you’re altering certain PPE, like a harness, then you are voiding the certification of that equipment. So, by altering that PPE, you are compromising the integrity of it.”
While Teague says there are multiple reasons for the ongoing problem, one key contributing factor is many PPE manufacturers taking PPE for men and simply making it smaller, sometimes making it pink, and labelling it as PPE for women.
Hence, “pink it and shrink it.” However, since women are not merely scaled-down versions of men, this causes problems with fit and comfort.
Not helping matters is that, as the CSA Group report notes, Canada collects a limited amount of anthropometric data (information on body sizes and shapes), which creates an information gap for designers and manufacturers of PPE for women.
“Many manufacturers are essentially shrinking PPE to fit women, but women have very different bodies compared to men; we have breasts, our shoulders are generally narrower, and our hips are generally wider,” Teague says.
“Women want to be taken seriously and so shrinking PPE, making it pink and saying it’s for women is not the answer. When you want to be taken seriously and there are already things that make it difficult, then that overlarge pink PPE is just one other hurdle. If the PPE doesn’t fit right, it can affect their ability to do a task. It can be demoralizing for women.”
The lack of readily available, proper-fitting PPE for women will not be resolved overnight. So how can women find suitable PPE that’s comfortable without being altered? Ensuring PPE is tried on with other safety equipment and apparel to make sure they fit together, simulating tasks while trying on PPE to determine the fit, and asking other women in the same field where they purchase their PPE can all go a long way to help.
But it’s also important not to overlook the value of women advocating for more PPE specifically designed to fit them.
“We all have a role to play with this, and that includes government and manufacturers. Women workers can also advocate for PPE that fits and demonstrate why and how it doesn’t fit. Of course, they need a safe place to do this, so having employers that recognize the importance of this issue and support the worker is also important,” Teague explains.
“PPE is the last line of defence when it comes to workplace protection so it’s important that it fits well. Because if that fails, there’s nothing else to protect you.”
