How are Safety Clothing Brands Closing the Gap in Women’s PPE?
If you’re a woman required to wear arc-rated and flame resistant (AR / FR) clothing, you may have experienced a lack of appealing PPE options specifically designed for you. While improvements have been made to enhance the women’s safety apparel and PPE offering, this continues to be a concern for women in the workforce. In fact, the March 2022 issue of Safety and Health Magazine focused on women’s safety and included an article about PPE concerns related to ill-fitting garments for female workers.
The good news is this is becoming a historic issue, as there are more and more PPE options that are designed from the ground up, starting at the pattern-level, to fit women properly. Reputable manufacturers have realized that “pinking and shrinking” – the term used for taking a men’s medium, changing the color, and offering it as a women’s large – does not at all fill the need in the market. Proper fitting garments are necessary to ensure comfort, which in turn, enhances safety and compliance while boosting employee morale.
Let’s hear from Tyndale’s VP of Technical, Scott Margolin as he provides a bit more insight and offers a solution on this important topic:
Minding the Gap in Women’s AR / FR Clothing and Outerwear
As Scott points out, Tyndale has the largest selection of women’s AR / FR garments in the US. As both a manufacturer and distributor, we’ve enhanced our own offering by developing new women’s products and identified new women’s options available from leading brands we carry. We have made it a key initiative to enhance our women’s offering and the overall experience for women in the industry.
While there are a reasonable number of women’s shirts and pants on the market – and that number continues to grow – one category that continues to fall short with proper-fitting garments specifically designed for women is outerwear. However, we are excited to report that NSA is narrowing the gap with their new Women’s Heavy Duty FR Vest.
This vest is:
- NFPA 2112 Compliant
- 60 CAL / CAT 4
- Made in the USA
- Tyndale Part Number: U697Y
Contact your National Account Executive to get this item added to your program.
Continuous Improvements for Women
As a company dedicated to continuous improvement and innovation, we are always seeking new ways to meet the needs of women in the industry:
- We work closely with our vendor partners to offer styles in our managed clothing programs that women need and want to wear.
- We launched our Women in Power series which highlights stories of women in the industry.
- We encourage the companies we serve to develop their own women’s committee to inspire growth and a better experience for female workers.
- We have a dedicated Women’s AR/ FR Clothing resource page that highlights our efforts and the products we offer.
If you’re interested in learning more, visit and share our resource page, or contact the National Account Executive in your area.
