I am the Founder of The Safety Rack, a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the personal protective equipment (PPE) equity gap for women across safety-critical industries.
My career has been rooted in environmental health and safety, but my advocacy for women in safety emerged from lived experience, both my own and that of the countless women I’ve met throughout my career.
I am also a Co-Founder of the Midwest Women in Safety Conference, which began as a grassroots effort to create space for honest conversations among women navigating a male-dominated profession.
Over time, that work revealed a deeper, systemic issue: women were not just underrepresented in safety leadership, they were being asked to work in equipment that was never designed with their bodies in mind.
That realization became the catalyst for The Safety Rack.
The Safety Rack was founded with a clear mission: to close the PPE equity gap through Education, Research, and Advocacy.
These three pillars are deeply interconnected and shape everything we do.
Education is about awareness and practical tools.
We educate employers, safety professionals, manufacturers, and workers on why fit is safety, not preference.
This includes resources like PPE equity guides, employer toolkits, interviews with women sharing their lived experiences and conversations with designers and manufacturers about inclusive product development.
Research is the backbone of credibility and change.
The PPE equity gap has existed for decades, but without data, it is easy to dismiss or minimize.
Through surveys, reports, and partnerships with researchers and industry experts, we collect data that quantifies the risks associated with ill-fitting PPE, from increased injury rates to reduced compliance and long-term health impacts.
Advocacy is where education and research turn into action.
We advocate for changes in procurement practices, standards development and workplace policies.
This includes amplifying women’s voices, pushing for inclusive sizing and testing and reframing PPE equity as a legitimate occupational safety issue, not a “nice to have.”
Together, these pillars allow us to address PPE inequity as a systemic safety hazard, not an individual inconvenience.
In 2024, we launched the #MyBodyMyPPE campaign to give women a platform to share their experiences with ill-fitting PPE.
What began as a social media campaign quickly revealed something powerful: women across industries, fire, construction, utilities, manufacturing, healthcare, were telling the same stories.
Amy Roosa
Stories of oversized turnout gear restricting movement.
Of gloves too long to safely grip tools.
Of harnesses that didn’t account for hips or chest shape.
Of being told to “make it work” or wait until “enough women” were hired to justify better options.
That campaign became the foundation for The Safety in Equity Report, which formally documented these experiences and paired them with quantitative data.
The report examined access to properly fitting PPE, injury risk, workplace culture, and the downstream effects of exclusionary design.
It made one thing clear: PPE inequity is not a niche issue, it is a widespread, cross-industry safety failure.
One of the most striking findings of the Safety in Equity Report was that the vast majority of women reported struggling to access PPE that fits properly and many linked ill-fitting gear directly to safety concerns, near-misses, or injuries.
Amy Roosa
Another critical finding was the psychosocial impact of PPE inequity.
Women described feeling overlooked, undervalued, or treated as an exception simply for asking for equipment that allows them to do their jobs safely.
This erosion of dignity and belonging is a safety issue in itself, one that affects retention, engagement and mental well-being.
The report helped The Safety Rack move from awareness-building to strategic, data-driven action.
It informed our employer scorecards, guided conversations with manufacturers and strengthened our position in standards and policy discussions.
It also reinforced the importance of centering women’s voices, not just as end users, but as experts in their own safety.
The Midwest Women in Safety Conference was founded because women needed a space where they could speak openly, without having to justify their experiences or soften their language.
In traditional industry settings, conversations about PPE fit or gender bias are often minimized or sidelined.
Amy Roosa
Creating women-centered spaces allows those conversations to surface honestly and constructively.
It also fosters mentorship, leadership development and collaboration that doesn’t always happen in mixed-gender environments.
Perhaps most importantly, these spaces validate experience.
When women realize they are not alone, that their challenges are shared and systemic, it shifts the narrative from self-doubt to collective problem-solving.
That shift is powerful.
One of the most overlooked aspects of PPE for women is how interconnected fit truly is.
PPE is often evaluated item by item, gloves, boots, turnout gear, but in reality, poor fit compounds risk.
In fire and emergency response, for example, turnout gear designed around male body proportions can restrict mobility, create excess bulk, or fail to protect critical areas.
Amy Roosa
Base layers and station wear are often ignored altogether, despite playing a critical role in thermal regulation and comfort.
Another issue many don’t realize is that improper fit affects compliance.
When PPE is uncomfortable or restrictive, workers are less likely to wear it correctly or consistently. That is not a behavioral failure, it is a design failure.
Looking forward, my aspiration for The Safety Rack is to help shift PPE equity from the margins to the mainstream of safety practice.
That means continuing to expand our research, strengthening partnerships with manufacturers and employers, and influencing how standards are written and applied.
It also means reframing PPE equity as both a physical and psychosocial safety issue, one that affects injury rates, workforce retention and organizational culture.
Amy Roosa
Lasting change will require collaboration across industries, disciplines and institutions.
My hope is that The Safety Rack continues to serve as a bridge, connecting data to design, lived experience to policy and intention to action.
Because at the end of the day, safety should never depend on whose body was considered in the design process.
