When PPE doesn’t fit, protection suffers
Poorly fitting PPE can reduce protection, restrict movement, and lower compliance. From a manufacturer perspective, this can also affect wearer confidence, wellbeing, and participation at work. Differences in gender, age, ethnicity, and physiology influence how PPE performs, which is why inclusive design matters. Historically, many PPE designs have been based on male body size and proportions, often reflecting European and US populations.
Beyond size: understanding human diversity
Designing inclusive PPE goes beyond offering smaller or larger sizes. When you consider human variation, you can design products that perform more effectively in real working conditions.
Body proportions vary across gender, ethnicity, age, and physiology, affecting both fit and performance. Key factors that may influence PPE fit include:
- Head shape and facial features, affecting eye and respiratory protection.
- Neck, chest, and foot dimensions, influencing comfort and mobility.
- Life-stage considerations such as pregnancy or menopause.
By understanding these variations, you’re better positioned to design PPE that protects effectively while still being comfortable and usable.
Standards that support inclusive, human-centred PPE
Standards play a critical role in helping you design, test, and validate more inclusive PPE.
Respiratory protection – ISO 17420
ISO 17420 introduces nine sizes based on global anthropometric data across four racial and ethnic groups: White, African American, Hispanic, and Asian. This gives you a stronger basis for achieving better fit across a diverse workforce and supports a more user-centred approach to product development.
Eye and face protection – ISO 16321
ISO 16321 covers occupational eye protection, welding visors, mesh visors, and biological hazard protection. It introduces six head forms reflecting age, gender, and ethnicity, alongside enhanced testing protocols. This means you can better assess stability, comfort, and effective coverage in realistic working conditions.
Insights from our Changing Workforce workshop
As part of our commitment to advancing inclusive PPE, we recently hosted a Changing Workforce workshop at our BSI Hemel Hempstead laboratory. Industry participants explored how ISO 16321 and ISO 17420 can support safer, better-fitting PPE for a diverse workforce, highlighting practical challenges and opportunities through discussion and hands-on activities.
Market challenges and access to suitable PPE
In some sectors, access to inclusive PPE is still limited. You may face commercial or procurement pressures that restrict the range of products available, particularly where certain groups are under-represented.
As a result, workers may:
- Adapt ill-fitting PPE themselves.
- Purchase their own equipment.
- Disengage from safety procedures.
By addressing these barriers, you can help create safer, more confident, and more inclusive workplaces.
How BSI can support you
BSI provides practical support to help you develop PPE that performs for a diverse workforce. Working with us, you’ll have access to:
- Laboratory testing against mandatory and optional standard clauses.
- Certification plans aligned to your product design and protection claims.
- CE and UKCA marking, including Notified Body support.
- BSI Kitemark™ certification as a recognized third-party mark of quality.
