Hi-Vis Apparel for Women

Women’s PPE is of growing concern across all industries. This conversation is not new, but it is becoming increasingly important. So, why should you care as a safety professional? For starters, there is now a rule in place for BOTH general industry and construction that PPE must properly fit the wearer. But beyond potential OSHA fines, we know that proper fit is essential to ensuring that workers are more likely to wear PPE instead of leaving it in the truck or locker. This means that offering the appropriate options for both men and women can greatly impact overall safety for your workers. (More on that can be found here!)

Hi-Vis apparel is a big part of the safety programs of many of our customers, and for some time there has been a variety of options designed for men to fit just about any budget and style preference/expectation. We are now almost two months into OSHA expanding the PPE fit rule to include the construction industry, and as more and more companies begin to bring their PPE offerings into compliance, the demand grows for equivalent women’s vesting options. 

The biggest consideration in this process is how to ensure that proper fit is achieved while also ensuring the uniformity of the appearance for each wearer. On construction job sites, we know that the ability to quickly spot your crew is essential. In all settings, having different options for different employees can lead to distractions regarding conceptions that some are receiving higher quality options while others are not. Therefore, being able to source vests that are the same for all factors other than fit is essential to ensuring that this change in OSHA expectations leads to a safer and more efficient workplace, not the other way around.

We have been working to grow these offerings in our catalog for years, and have found many wonderful women’s vesting options from vendors including Pyramex, Global Glove, Radians, and Kishigo. Of these, Radians and Kishigo currently offer a broad range of vests, both Class 2 and Class 3, in both men’s and women’s sizing. As you are considering your vesting options, here is a quick list for vest equivalents offered on our site: