Every morning, 1.3 million women in American construction make an impossible choice: wear safety equipment that actively harms us, or don’t work at all. After years on construction sites watching women adapt their bodies to equipment never designed for them, I decided to stop adapting and start innovating. With women in construction growing by 45 percent over the past decade, now representing 11 percent of our workforce, I started questioning why we were all modifying our hard hats with extra padding, adjusting straps, and creating elaborate morning hair routines to minimize pain. That question launched my research journey.

I began surveying women across trades, starting with 300 detailed responses. Their experiences were remarkably consistent: daily discomfort was normalized as “part of the job,” productivity impacts were never reported, and health issues were never connected to their personal protective equipment (PPE).

The data was staggering. 67 percent reported safety risks from ill-fitting hard hats; not just discomfort, but actual increased vulnerability to traumatic brain injuries. Another 95 percent experienced progressive hair loss and scalp damage. 62 percent said equipment induced headaches affected their job performance. These weren’t isolated incidents but systematic patterns affecting over three-fourths of respondents. What struck me most was how every woman had internalized that her body was the problem, not the equipment. Interview after interview revealed women who believed their pain tolerance wasn’t high enough or that discomfort was simply the price of working in construction. We’d all accepted these adaptations as necessary without questioning whether the equipment could be improved.

I expanded my research, analyzing data from CPWR, NIOSH, and NAWIC reports, ultimately synthesizing insights from over 5,000 women. The pattern held across every dataset. My investigation revealed that hard hats haven’t fundamentally changed since 1919, when they were designed using male anthropometric data. The suspension systems, shell geometry, and weight distribution, everything assumes one head type.

Anatomical science explains these pain points (see infographic). Female cranial structures differ in ways that directly affect fit and protection. Our cervical architecture creates different pressure points. Even our hair, with different density patterns and follicle structures, responds differently to prolonged compression. We’re not failing to adapt; we’re forcing our bodies into equipment that wasn’t designed for our anatomy.

This research became my mission. I founded Safe.TY.her, a platform creating safety products for women, starting with the hard hat designed for women, not around them. But before we could engineer solutions, we needed to document the problem comprehensively. We’re creating the first detailed analysis of how standard PPE affects diverse anatomies, backed by medical correlation and field data. Our “One Size Fails All” report presents these findings, transforming scattered experiences into quantifiable evidence.

Documentation, however, is just the beginning. We’re now partnering with biomechanics departments for anthropometric studies and collaborating with occupational health specialists to establish clear medical correlations. This isn’t about special treatment. It’s about recognizing that when 11 percent of our workforce faces preventable equipment challenges, our entire industry loses talent and productivity.

The data speaks for itself. The experiences are validated. The anatomical differences are documented. Now it’s time for the construction industry to recognize that true safety means equipment that protects everyone, not just those it was originally designed for.

The challenge has been accepted. The research continues. Change is coming.

Smita Sahoo, FOUNDER ĀŚAYA DESIGN

Smita Sahoo, founder of āśaya DESIGN and creator of SAFe.TY.her™, a platform creating safety products for women, brings 20 years of human centered
design expertise to revolutionizing PPE. With degrees in Architecture from Sir J.J. College, Mumbai, and Interior Design from the University of Florida, Hotel Planning + Design certification from Cornell’s Nolan School, and specialized training in CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design), she identified a critical gap: standard PPE fails women workers. Through extensive research with women in construction, Smita applies her design philosophy of understanding emotions before creating solutions, ensuring women in construction and allied industries finally have safety equipment built specifically for them.

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