Pregnant Should Never Mean Unprotected

Why the absence of safety-rated maternity workwear is a workplace safety issue, not just a women's issue

You're a mechanic whose job requires flame-resistant clothing. Every day, you work around heat, sparks, fuel, and electrical hazards. Your workwear isn't just clothing. It's personal protective equipment designed to protect you if something goes wrong.

Then you become pregnant.

Your employer searches for a flame-resistant maternity clothing that meets safety standards. There isn't one. The "unisex" workwear you've always worn no longer fits correctly. A custom workwear manufacturer explains they can alter the pattern but cannot source flame-resistant stretch panels that meet the required performance standards. Without compliant materials, they cannot produce a certified garment.

Your choices become painfully limited: continue wearing workwear that no longer fits as designed, potentially compromising its protective performance, or leave the work you've trained years to do for a temporary desk assignment.

No employee should have to choose between their safety and their career.

Yet this is the reality facing women in transportation, utilities, construction, manufacturing, and other skilled trades across the country.

A Safety Gap Hidden in Plain Sight

Employers spend enormous resources building safe workplaces. They invest in training, equipment, inspections, and protective gear because everyone deserves to go home safely at the end of the day.

Yet one significant safety gap has remained largely invisible.

As more women enter skilled trades, many employers have discovered that properly fitting maternity PPE and protective workwear simply are not available for certain occupations. While standard protective workwear may be manufactured in a range of sizes, certified maternity versions often do not exist, particularly for jobs requiring flame-resistant or arc-rated garments.

This is not about comfort or convenience. Proper fit is fundamental to the effectiveness of personal protective equipment. A garment that no longer fits as intended may restrict movement, create snag hazards, or fail to provide the level of protection it was designed to deliver. Just as employers would never substitute an uncertified hard hat or modify a fall protection harness, protective workwear should not become less protective simply because an employee is pregnant.

The Market Isn't Meeting the Need

Through the Women Innovating Transit (WIT) initiative at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), our team began researching the availability of safety-rated maternity workwear.

The findings were surprising.

Manufacturers acknowledged the demand but explained the challenge was bigger than tailoring. One custom protective workwear supplier told us they could design maternity garments, but they could not source flame-resistant stretch materials that met required performance standards. Without certified materials, they could not manufacture a compliant product.

In other words, this isn't simply a design problem.

It is a supply chain and market problem.

The demand exists. The products do not.

Procurement Shapes Markets

This is where the conversation shifts from protective workwear to procurement.

Most organizations purchase workwear through competitively awarded contracts built around existing product catalogs. If maternity safety apparel is absent from those specifications, manufacturers receive little incentive to invest in research, testing, certification, and production.

The economics are understandable. A single transit agency, utility, or public works department may have only a handful of pregnant tradeswomen in any given year. That volume alone is rarely enough to justify creating an entirely new product line.

But what if dozens of agencies asked for the same products?

What if utilities, transit systems, manufacturers, airports, ports, construction firms, and public works departments all included maternity safety workwear in their procurement specifications?

Collective demand changes the equation.

Procurement has influenced markets before. Public agencies have accelerated innovation in zero-emission vehicles, sustainable construction materials, and accessible technologies by creating predictable demand. Safety apparel should be no different.

Safety, Retention, and Workforce Development Are Connected

Across North America, employers are investing heavily in attracting women to careers in the skilled trades. Apprenticeship programs, mentorship initiatives, leadership development, and recruitment campaigns all recognize that a broader workforce strengthens industries facing significant labor shortages.

But recruitment is only part of the equation.

Retention matters just as much.

If an experienced mechanic, electrician, operator, or technician must leave field work because compliant safety apparel is unavailable during pregnancy, employers lose valuable expertise, teams lose experienced colleagues, and workers lose momentum in careers they have worked hard to build.

For some, a temporary reassignment may be appropriate based on medical guidance or the essential functions of the job. But that decision should be based on the work itself, not because compliant safety equipment could not be purchased.

Pregnancy should never be the reason someone loses access to the equipment they need to perform their job safely.

A Collaborative Solution

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is exploring a collaborative procurement initiative that would establish contracts for maternity protective workwear and women's seamed protective workwear designed to better accommodate female body types.

The goal is not simply to purchase protective workwear for one agency.

It is to aggregate demand across public agencies and other large employers, creating sufficient market opportunity for manufacturers to develop compliant products that are commercially viable.

This approach recognizes that no single organization can solve the problem alone. Together, however, agencies, labor organizations, manufacturers, and industry partners can reshape the marketplace.

A Call to Leadership

This issue extends beyond transit.

It affects utilities, public works departments, construction companies, manufacturers, ports, airports, and every organization committed to providing a safe workplace while building a more diverse workforce.

Executives can champion procurement strategies that require inclusive safety apparel.

Procurement professionals can incorporate maternity PPE into future specifications.

Labor organizations can advocate for properly fitted protective equipment as a workplace safety issue.

Manufacturers can innovate once the market demonstrates sustained demand.

Each has an important role to play.

The Standard We Should Expect

Workplace safety has always evolved to meet changing risks and changing workforces. We improve equipment, strengthen standards, and adopt new technologies because protecting employees is not optional.

Our protective workwear should evolve as well.

Women have earned their place in the skilled trades. They should not have to choose between protecting their growing families and protecting the careers they have built.

The solution is within reach, but it will require collective action.

By using procurement strategically, organizations can create the market demand manufacturers need to develop compliant maternity safety apparel. In doing so, they can close a critical gap in workplace safety, improve retention, and ensure that every employee has access to the protection they deserve.

We are encouraging public agencies, unions, and employers to speak out, and implement change. To join us in making inclusive gear standard, reach out to Valley Transit Authority Wellbeing and Employee Engagement Manager, Maya Esparza, at Maya.Esparza@vta.org.

Because no one should ever have to choose between workplace safety and motherhood.