3 Tips For Women In Construction to Be Successful

If you buy through links on our site, we may earn commissions at no extra cost for you. Learn More

Last Updated on February 9, 2024 by Azad Asf

The construction industry has historically revolved around men. Due to this, there are a few well-recognized problems and respective solutions that women should know about.

Hopefully, this article will surpass that goal.

What Will You Learn In This Article?

  • Learn about the problems of the construction industry with women.
  • Learn what are the hazards for women at the construction site and how they can protect themselves.
  • Learn how to communicate with men at the construction site.
  • Learn how to handle yourself if you’re a woman in charge.

The 3 Problems In The Construction Industry With Women

Problem #1: The Low Number Of Women In Construction

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 9% of the construction workforce are women.

This means only one thing. It’s a man’s industry. Most things revolve around men, and probably will continue in that way.

This isn’t necessarily negative, but it means that women should expect to adapt to certain situations. In other words, they will have to know how to pick their fights if they want to be happy working in this industry.

Problem #2: Health Hazards For Women At The Construction Industry

The construction site is a hazardous place both for men and women. There are many risks that could seriously injure women if they don’t take the proper safety measures.

Heavy objects that could fall straight to their feet, slippery surfaces and abrasive substances that could come into contact with the boots are among the many risks that women should expect when working at the construction site.

Hopefully, in this article, I’ll give you a couple of tips on how to prevent this issues.

Problem #3: Many Women Adopt Positions Of Charge And Aren’T Listened To

As I told you previously, the construction industry revolves around men. And men are used to listening and following other men. So, when women come into charge, things get weird. Most men don’t feel comfortable listening to women and most women don’t really know how to communicate with men.

This is why I tried to lay down a couple of tips for other women to follow so they learn how to handle themselves if they are in a position of leadership in the construction industry.

4 Tips for Women That Work in The Construction Industry

Tip #1: Take Safety Measures

There are many risks at the construction site that must be taken into consideration by those women that work in construction.

One of the first measurements women can take to substantially reduce the risk of getting injured at the construction site is getting the essential safety equipment that will keep them safe.

5 Essential Safety Equipments

1) Work Boots

There are many heavy objects that could fall around the construction site that could completely destroy your toes. Also, there are other risks like slippery surfaces that could lead women to slip, fall and get injured.

As a consequence, women should get work boots with the proper safety features, like safety toes and non-slippery outsoles, that would help them in working with the confidence that they won’t get injured while at work so they can achieve their best performance.

2) Earplugs

The construction site is a really loud place both for men and women. The sad thing is that these noises can really hurt people and their hearing abilities. So, what can you do about it?

Well, a good idea would be to get some quality earplugs that block out all noises that could damage your audition system.

3) Safety Googles

We all know that at a construction site, there are thousands of little things that could fly around and hurt your eyes. From simple dust to those goddamn splinters!

The best thing to do in those cases, both for men and women, is to use safety goggles. These will be placed in between your eyes and the exterior, protecting them from any objects that could hurt your sight.

At the beginning, it seems like a little bit too much but it won’t take too long for you to start appreciating them as you see other people getting hurt!

4) Hard Hats

There are also many heavy objects that could fall from different heights straight into your head!

And believe me, you will want something protecting your precious little head if you don’t want to be killed.

So, choosing a top-quality hard hat of your liking might be a great idea, if you want to continue living, of course.

5) Respirators

Things like dust and splinters are always flying around in the air at any construction site. The thing is that those elements usually enter your respiratory system leaving dangerous long terms consequences which you could prevent easily by getting respirators.

These elements will act as a filter which will give you the guarantee that the only thing you breathe is clean air and not anything else.

Tip #2: Don’t Be Afraid To Tell People What To Do If You’re In Charge

Construction is an industry that has revolved around men for many years. As a result, when women come to a place of leadership at the construction site, they are instantly afraid by how they will handle with their men subordinates.

They think that men should be handled in a particular way in order for them to be productive at the work site. But that is far from the truth.

If I could give you one advice on how to handle yourself around men is the following: be straight, honest and a hard worker. That’s what most men respect, and that’s what they will respond to. Otherwise, you’ll not be able to communicate with them. Don’t be afraid, just be yourself.

Tip #3: It’s Ok If You Don’t Know Everything

Most women that get into construction are responsible and are problem solvers.

But, the truth is that you won’t always have the answer to everything at the construction site. In fact, many times you will have to be humble and admit that you don’t know everything and you will have to ask for help.

Just ask for help and everything will be fine.

Tip #4: Know Your Worth

Many times, whether you are a man or a woman, you will find that you work hard and achieve ambitious goals at your job. And, more than frequently, the idea that you should be paid more will dance around your head.

The thing is that women that have this idea most of the time are in fact right and they should ask for a raise but their personalities drive them to keep focusing on their work and goals.

So, to solve this problem, women should wait for the right time, which is now as there is no ”right time”. If you are as productive as you think, there will be no individual that will deny your asking.

Author: Joe Strong

1 thought on “3 Tips For Women In Construction to Be Successful”

  1. I work in the construction industry. I’ve been working on a new MGM casino that’s being built in Springfield Massachusetts. I clicked on this article as it was advertised on a website where I was shopping for work boots that will better deal with the 56 hour work weeks standing on concrete.

    I found your article to be well aligned with the reality of women in construction many years ago, but not now. The culture of construction has changed dramatically and the challenges you mention are not accurate to the challenges we actually face on the daily in 2018.

    First, PPE is something for all men and women, tested by ANSI and policed by OSHA. PPE shouldn’t even really be in an article about women, it should be in an article for anyone who’s thinking about working on a construction site. Anyone already working on construction already knows WAY MORE about personal protective equipment than what’s mentioned here.

    Second, the problems you presented as challenges to women are not spot on to what the women I work with. and I experience. Authority is not an issue. Choosing your fights is far more an issue for men than it is for us. Women are not the know-it-alls on site: women know enough to know we don’t know it all. It’s the men who pick fights and think they know everything. And the women on construction know our worth. If for no other reason than the fact that the culture of construction has changed so much that companies who don’t employ minorities (which includes women) don’t get the jobs! And if they do, they don’t get paid. This is something union representatives talk about constantly. If companies want to be competitive today, they employ women. So the issues you discuss are actually nearly non-issues.

    If you wanted to talk about something that is a real challenge on construction job sites, then talk about the way that men see women on site. Although stiff harassment policies are in place in all international workers unions, there is still a heavy amount of flirting, staring, and commentary from men to women. My biggest challenge is dealing with the constant attention that men give us. It’s distracting, degrading, and irritating. As a married women who wears a safety wedding band at work, I’ve been asked out by men young and old, married and single, every race & creed, and they don’t care if I’m married or not.

    If you really want to help women succeed on the construction site, you’d write an article about the way men treat women on the job site and the effect that treatment has on our work environment satisfaction. The other way to help women succeed is to discuss how much work ethic has to do with success. In my experience, as a whole, women seem to work harder, for longer straight hours and with FAR LESS complaining than do the men. As such, women who do not have a great work ethic do not belong on a construction site. It is this “above and beyond” work ethic that has earned women the place they now have in the construction culture. The moment I see a woman fussing with her nails on a job site is the moment I would rather have her laid off. Women need to go into this with the vision of furthering women’s progress in the construction industry. If they think it’s a walk in the park with lots of breaks, they need to find a “mother’s hours” or “housewife” type of job. It’s a tough field that requires strong women.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.