Anya Keefe can tell some horrific stories about women wearing badly fitting personal protective equipment in the workplace.
“She spent 10 hours in urgent care and one month for it to heal closed,” Keefe said. “Three to four months for it to fully heal.” On April 18, she was the keynote speaker during a one-day conference hosted by the Women in Construction Committee of the Northeastern Ontario Construction Association in Sudbury.
“What that means is that you can't take the protective clothing and other PPE that's designed on the basis of male anthropometric data and male proportions and then just simply scale it down linearly and expect that it's going to fit women,” she said. Another 48 per cent said their PPE was unisex, while 35 per cent said their PPE was designed for men.
“All PPE is certified to a standard and when that PPE is modified, the certification of that product is now compromised,” she said.