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You can’t perform at your best when you don’t feel comfortable with what you’re wearing. Wearing ill-fitting clothes and not having the correct work uniform can make you feel uncomfortable and out of place; and this is just as prevalent on the job site.
In trade professions, physical tasks demand that you be mobile, agile, and not restricted by your apparel. Plus, having the same workwear as your colleagues allows you to feel a part of the team and gives you a sense of belonging. Yet women’s workwear in the trade industry has often fallen short.
With the recent pandemic and a dire skills shortage across the board, an increasing focus is being placed on recruiting and supporting women as they transition into trade roles. Not only does greater female representation across the trade industry across job sites and offices help reduce a staffing gap, but concrete evidence suggests that having more women on the team increases an organisation’s productivity, profitability and improves workplace culture.
A study by Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) looked at 4,841 reports submitted by Australian businesses capturing the data of roughly 4.3 million employees. The results showed that an increased share of 10 percentage points of top-tier female managers led to an increase of 6.6% in the market value of ASX-listed companies – which equated to around AUD$104.7 million.
Another study conducted by McKinsey & Company showed that companies that had greater workplace gender diversity were up to 21% more profitable. Yet, in the male-dominated trade industry in Australia, women make up only 2% of the workforce.
The Victorian Government, with the help of the Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC), has launched the Building Gender Equality: Victoria’s Women in Construction Strategy 2019-2022. This will mandate that state construction projects have female representation in at least 3% of trade roles, 7% of non-trade roles and 35% of management, supervisory or specialist roles. High-level changes like these are a great step in the right direction, but how do we help promote gender equality in the workplace on a more individual or company level?
Dr Phillippa Carnemolla is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, who studied female high school students’ perceptions of the construction industry. She points to the need for female role models in leadership positions, better career guidance in schools that show trades as a viable option for women, and for leading companies to reform their company culture to be more inclusive.
A simple way that women can feel more included and comfortable on the worksite is to have fit-for-purpose apparel. A company leading the way in developing specific workwear tailored to women is Workwear Group, across both their KingGee and Hard Yakka brands.
“We recognise women are becoming an integral part of the industrial workplace, as such makes complete sense to have the right apparel and footwear to suit individual needs, irrespective of gender,” says Peter Allery, National Sales Manager (Safety), Workwear Group.
“Each brand has reviewed their range of workwear and high visibility clothing, to design them for women’s figures and take into consideration comfort, fit and covering modesty areas effectively. This means female tradies can get stuck in and feel confident and at ease on the job site,” says Peter.
KingGee has committed to ensuring there is a female equivalent of every male garment in their range. New features include:
“At Blackwoods, we’re conscious of the ever-changing face of the construction, infrastructure, and mining industries. It’s terrific to see gender parity in apparel and footwear, is now a reality. It not only means greater comfort and inclusion for women, it’s also about greater productivity on the job site,” says Leigh Eam, NCSM - Apparel & Footwear, Blackwoods.
Whether you’re on the job site, in the office or on the road, every team member should feel safe, included and part of the team. While there is a long way to go to get to gender parity in the trade industries, getting women the right workwear is a first step towards a more equal and balanced workplace.
This article first appeared in the latest edition of Safety Spotlight. For more safety articles like this one, click below to checkout the online version of the magazine.