In their first stop of a 4-city tour, SeeHerWork brought together trade workers, community members and others to share stories about the obstacles they've faced in the workforce due to ill-fitting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). SeeHerWork is committed to creating products that are designed specifically for the female form, so that female workers can feel safe, strong, and perform at their best.
The SeeHerWork product line contains just about everything a female worker would need including gloves that fit smaller hands, workwear that fastens and buttons in the proper direction for females, undergarments that protect sensitive areas from flying debris, eye protection, ear protection, respirators, workwear, footwear, Fire Resistant (FR) clothing, and bags.
1 of 6
SeeHerWork CEO Jane Henry (third from left) staged an awareness event at Hermann Square in front of City Hall Houston City Hall on Jan. 8 in order for people to understand the need for women’s safety work apparel. Standing with Henry are Dane Wilson with Honeywell, Becky Salinas with the BIC Alliance and Kelli McClung with AMECO.
2 of 6
Houston firefighter Carla Goffney tells about how she struggles to be safe because equipment is designed for male physiques. Her colleague, Captain Anette Thomas agreed saying apparel that does not fit actually makes working even more dangerous. Women who work in all kinds of dangerous situations need safer clothing that they can rely on that fits. Men’s clothing does not meet the female body structure.
3 of 6
Kevin Doffing, a principal with Sam’s Safety Equipment, is the first store to carry women’s safety clothing. Some of their offerings are coveralls, outerwear, pants and shirts.
4 of 6
AMECO Global Personal Protective Equipment Manager Anna Page said she is very excited to be a distribution partner for the SeeHerWork line because safe women’s clothing will meet an essential marketplace need. The buzz word “pink it and shrink it” means to take a band-aid approach to manufacturing garments for women who work in at-risk professions such as construction, first-responders and industrial. This movement advocates the need for work wear that is similar in look and feel as men's wear, but fits the female body physique.
5 of 6
Greg Miller with the BIC Alliance said that billions of dollars will be spent on capital and maintenance in the hydrocarbon processing industry in 2019. He also said many junior colleges have responded to the workforce shortage with training programs for students to find jobs in the plants and refineries. Another resource to fill the gap, he explained, is women. And heavy processing jobs are more attractive because the gender pay gap is narrow. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 9.1 percent of the construction industry. Women in the U.S. earn on average 81.1 percent of what men make. The gender pay gap is much narrower in the construction industry. In construction, women earn on average 95.7 percent of what men make.
6 of 6
Standing united for safer apparel for women in the workplace are Greg Miller with the BIC Alliance, Jane Henry, CEO of SeeHerWork, Sheri Ware and Anna Page with AMECO and Caley Westbrook with the American Fire Protection Group and a member of She Builds It, a women’s-only peer group developed to be a resource and relationships builder for women involved in the construction industry.
SeeHerWork, a company that designs, manufactures and sells workwear, safety equipment, and other job-specific products for women, today announced the #SeeHerWork event series, taking place in Houston, San Francisco, Detroit and Washington, D.C. The events will not only bring together trade workers, community members and local politicians to share stories about the barriers to entry, inclusion and retention women face in the workforce due to ill-fitting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but will also raise awareness to the unfair trade practices in the safety industry by major manufacturers that are suppressing innovations like SeeHerWork and putting employees at greater risk to retain market share. The first #SeeHerWork awareness event took place on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 in Houston, Texas.
The #SeeHerWork event series will provide a safe space for the first public dialogue about the current workwear Fit Compliance standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and call on Congress for stricter penalties towards unfair trade practices by major manufacturers that are suppressing safety innovations like SeeHerWork through some of these standards. “Working alongside other women to help rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, I saw first-hand how dangerous and difficult it is for them to perform daily jobs due to ill-fitting gear,” said Jane Henry, CEO, SeeHerWork. “Women have gone decades without the right clothing and equipment to perform their jobs, and addressing this is the first step to fill empty labor positions today.”
“SeeHerWork is correct. There aren’t solutions for women, and this isn’t the only area that has had suppressed innovation. Being a global distributor, we can say that this change for women is absolutely doable,” said Anna Page, AMECO, Global PPE Manager. “The way of the future is customized PPE programs to help employers who want easy, cost-effective purchasing, but not at the risk of negatively impacting safety and performance. Proactive planning of innovation and inclusion is saving lives and increasing productivity; unlike the current status quo that is placing employers at risk.”
“SeeHerWork is highlighting the hurdles that are a challenge to innovation in the safety industry,” said Forrest Hester, ANSI/SAIA A92.24 Sub-Committee – Secretary, Tutus Solutions, LLC – Founder/CSH. “Today, major manufacturers suppress innovation in a variety of ways to keep their market share. SeeHerWork is filling a need in the industry that is actively being ignored. We look forward to working with SeeHerWork to improve safety in the industry and bring awareness to unfair trade practices that are putting lives at risk.” Get Involved: Share your story using the hashtag #SeeHerWork. For information on future #SeeHerWork awareness events, visit: https://seeherwork.com/pages/get-involved