This article draws on insight from ProGARM’s women-led product development team. As featured in Tomorrow’s Health & Safety – March Edition.
As a team of women working in garment product development, we spend a lot of time thinking about how protective clothing actually behaves in the real world. How it fits, how it moves, how it manages heat and how different layers work together. All of these things really matter, especially in arc flash environments where the consequences of failure are serious.
Why Arc Flash PPE Hasn’t Worked for Women
For a long time, the industry has worked from a fairly narrow set of assumptions about who the wearer is. It’s a well-recognised issue that arc flash PPE hasn’t always been designed with women in mind. When garments are designed around male body shapes, women are often left adapting, having to wear oversized clothing, compromising on fit, or layering everyday garments underneath PPE that was never designed to offer arc flash protection in the first place.
From a technical point of view, that creates some very serious risks. Something as simple as height can place the chest and neck closer to the arc flash blast zone. Poor fitting PPE can leave gaps or interfere with how protective layers are meant to perform together. Clothing that’s too loose or too tight can restrict movement, reducing ability and increasing the risk of contact and non–arc-rated underlayers, including everyday bras, can melt or conduct heat during an incident, significantly worsening injuries. These are well-understood risks, and understanding them is fundamental to designing arc flash PPE that genuinely protects women.
That’s why involving women in the design and development of arc flash PPE is so important. When women are part of the process, different questions get asked. Those questions directly influence pattern cutting, fabric selection and garment construction and ultimately, how well the PPE does its job, taking into account the differences between male and female requirements.
A Women-Led Approach to Safer PPE Design
At ProGARM, these conversations have shaped the development of our new Gen 2 arc flash range. Our role in that process has been focused on refining fit and performance using feedback from women working in arc flash environments and ensuring the options are made available for everyone. Gen 2 builds on earlier designs, improving comfort, mobility and wearability while still meeting the protection levels required for hazardous electrical work. The goal has never been to create something “different” just for the sake of it, but to create PPE that works properly for the people wearing it.
You feel the impact of that approach almost immediately. When PPE fits properly, movement improves and distractions disappear, but there’s something else that changes too: confidence. When women trust their PPE, they’re more likely to wear it as intended, layer it correctly and focus fully on the task in front of them. From a technical perspective, that trust is just as important as the materials and standards behind the garment.
Industry voices like Katy Robinson, who has been instrumental in highlighting issues around inclusivity in PPE and construction through her PPE and Release The Bogs campaigns, have played a big role in moving this conversation forward. As a strong advocate for women’s PPE, Katy has consistently drawn attention to the risks women face when wearing ill-fitting PPE or not having access to the right protection.
Reflecting on ProGARM’s women’s range, she said:
“I genuinely appreciate the thought and expertise that’s gone into protecting women working in arc flash environments. The risks of wearing non-rated PPE or everyday clothing aren’t talked about nearly enough, and there are so many women on the tools every day who don’t realise how exposed they are. What you’re doing is making a real difference.”
Raising the Standard for Inclusive Arc Flash PPE
For us at ProGARM, that really underlines why education and design have to go hand in hand. Many women don’t realise how exposed they are, not because they’re careless, but because the industry hasn’t always made space for them in safety conversations. Closing that gap means designing PPE that reflects real bodies, real working conditions and real lives.
That same thinking has pushed innovation beyond traditional garments. Our purpose-designed arc-rated bras address an area that’s been historically overlooked in arc flash protection, while our arc-rated hijabs ensure women who wear religious head coverings aren’t excluded from compliant PPE. From a garment technology point of view, these solutions are about removing risk, not adding complexity.
We’re not trying to create a separate category of PPE for women, we’re trying to raise the standard of arc flash protection overall. PPE that fits properly is more likely to perform as intended, and PPE that reflects the diversity of today’s workforce is simply better.
The workforce is evolving, and protective clothing has to evolve with it. Women are a vital part of high-risk, high-skill industries, and they deserve arc flash PPE designed with the same care, rigour and technical expertise as any other garment. As women in this sector, that responsibility sits at the heart of what we do and it’s something we take seriously at ProGARM.