Women in Construction and Safety in 2024 

What’s going on in EHS this week? Find out with Safety at the Frontline!

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Stats for women in construction

As some of you may already know, last week was the 25th Annual Women in Construction week. Since 2019, women have been making up 10% of the construction industry. JJ Keller recently published a survey on PPE and data shows that despite growing numbers of women in jobs that require PPE, women still have trouble finding equipment that fits them well.

Of the 100 women polled, all of whom have jobs requiring PPE, 84% said they struggle to find properly fitting PPE. And of those women, 75% said ill-fitting PPE impacts their feeling of safety on the job.

In our last episode of Safety at the Frontline our guest Amy Roosa, who is an advocate for women in the trades, explains the necessity of properly fitted PPE for women and its impact on psychological safety. She also touched on the problematic “pink it-shrink it” approach and what businesses and manufacturers can do to help overcome this critical hurdle so make sure to check that out if you want to learn more.

What’s expecting workplace safety in 2024?

In other news, the Biden-Harris administration recently released President Biden’s budget for fiscal year 2024.

Of course, the budget includes many different proposed investments and expansions but there are a few that are directly related to workplace safety we want to highlight.

• To ensure employers treat workers with dignity and respect, the budget invests $2.3 billion – that’s a $430 million increase from 2023 – in the department’s worker protection agencies.
• The budget also invests in effective, evidence-based training models to ensure all workers have the skills they need to obtain high-quality jobs.
• And to safeguard equal opportunity and nondiscrimination, the budget makes key investments to provide additional support to the Civil Rights Center to expand its enforcement work.

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