Not Built for Her

The Harness Wasn't Built With Her in Mind

Picture a woman on a construction site, geared up for the day: hard hat sliding slightly forward, harness sitting in the wrong place across her chest, gloves too wide to get a proper grip on a tool. None of it was made for her. It was made for the 'average' worker, and for decades, that average was assumed to be a man.

That's not a small styling issue, it's a safety one. Here's where the mismatch actually shows up on site:

• Harnesses that don't sit correctly across the chest and hips, undermining the exact protection they're meant to provide in a fall.

• Gloves sized too wide, reducing grip and dexterity on tools and machinery.

• Boots that don't fit properly, leading to fatigue, blisters, and a higher chance of a stumble or fall.

As more women move into construction, manufacturing, logistics and other historically male-dominated industries, the equipment and risk assessments protecting them need to catch up to who's actually doing the work. This Women's Month, it's worth every employer asking a straightforward question: does our safety planning actually fit everyone doing the job, or just the person it was originally designed around?

A safe workplace should fit the people in it, not the other way around.