March 24, 2026 Madison Hemric

Women's History in Safety

In honor of Women’s History Month, this week we are taking a look into the history of women in safety, specifically some of the women who impacted safety in the industries we serve and our daily lives. This will be a simple overview, and it will not be able to do justice to the impact of these women on our safety, but it will celebrate many important figures. It is also important to note that these women were not alone in their impacts. Their stories may be more well-known, but we know that other changes in safety have happened quietly, too.

Let’s begin with Rebecca Lukens. She was the only woman to own and run an iron mill in the 1800s. After the death of her husband, Rebecca took over and ran Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory, against the wishes of her mother (Moten, 2021). During her tenure running the company, Rebecca saw the injuries being experienced by her workers, and she worked to improve safety in iron works as an industry (ASSP, 2019).

Secondly, starting in May of 1997 until January 2001, Alexis M. Herman served as the Secretary of Labor for the United States. Herman focused heavily on benefitting workers, improving access to work for those who were historically “hard-to-employ,” and safety in those jobs. In an interview with NPR in 2007, Herman stated, “I was always very concerned about the safety of workers and the environment in which we worked…and I was very proud that we did have the safest record in terms of workplace safety in the history of the labor department.”

Next, we have Elaine L. Chao who was appointed in January 2001 as the Secretary of Labor for the U.S., a position she held for 8 years. During her time in this role, she had a large impact on the safety of our workforce. Some of her achievements during that time included white collar overtime regulations being updated, record low injuries recorded, and programs implemented to aid energy workers and veterans (Department of Labor).

Women have had a large impact on our roadway safety as well as that of our workplaces through their inventions. Mary Riggin was the developer of the railroad crossing gate, a patent which is dated to January 14, 1890 (RCR Rail Co., 2024). In line with this, Mary Anderson patented the first effective windshield clearing device in 1903 (The National Inventors Hall of Fame), a development which has evolved to keep us all safe as automobiles and trains become more and more advanced.

Again, it is important to note that these quick overviews do not encompass all of the ways these women impacted our current world of safety, nor do they include all of the women who have had an impact. They do, however, give us the opportunity to reflect on how women have been impacting workplace safety for centuries. With more and more women in higher risk roles, we will certainly continue to see safety impacted and changed by them to make workplaces safer for everyone.

Happy Women’s History Month! Stay safe.

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Rebecca Lukens: