– For many companies, it will be easier to ask the pregnant woman to register sick than to buy new equipment. Henriette Thorsen is an electrician for Teca in Stord and one of the “Installer Girls”. Through social media and visits to schools and workplaces, they work with recruitment and equality in the electrical profession. – Much has improved, but the industry is far from healthy, says Thorsen. Now they think it’s time to adapt work clothes for women, even those with a belly. In your job as an electrician, you wear work trousers with room for equipment and tools. In addition, one uses protective equipment, such as safety shoes or a helmet. Photo: Privat Still up with ruptures in the kneecaps Failure to arrange clothing and equipment can have major consequences, Thorsen believes, and receives support from colleague Mari Stormark Helland. She herself experienced great physical pain when she had to wear men’s safety shoes. – I’m still up with ruptures in both kneecaps. Helleland emphasizes that it has not been proven that the problems came as a result of the wrong shoes, but that the problem ended when she got protective shoes adapted to girls, and her own foot. Mari Stormark Helland loves her job, but still suffers from ruptures in both kneecaps, probably as a result of the wrong work shoes. Photo: Privat The newspapers Sunnhordland and Kvinnheringen have previously written about Thorsen and the Miljøjentene, who have now been nominated for Plan Norge’s girl prize for their work with equality in the industry. – Doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult Only 3 percent of electricians in Norway today are women. This makes the market narrow. Nevertheless, there is far more equipment for women now than before, says Thorsen, who herself became pregnant ten years ago. – Then I was offered a pair of normal carpenter’s trousers where I could open the button on the stomach. There were no pants for pregnant women. There is now. Manufacturer of work clothes, Blåkläder, says they have developed over 100 different models adapted to women, since they first started in earnest in 2015. Nevertheless, it is only two years since their first work trousers for pregnant women arrived. – I think there is a need for more knowledge that these clothes exist. One can make arrangements. It doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult, says Thorsen. Such trousers for pregnant women are now available on the market. Thorsen still thinks there is too little selection. Photo: Blåkläder AS – We have to adapt Thorsen and the fitter girls fear that women will give up the profession because they are not allowed to adapt their work clothes. Now they are working to get it into the collective agreement for the employer organization Nelfo. In this way, it becomes the employer’s responsibility to ensure that electricians, both women, men and pregnant women, get work clothes that suit them. Communications director at Nelfo, Marius Saasen Strand, thinks the initiative is a good idea. – We also have to adapt when it comes to work clothes. It is certainly not the case that “one size fits all”. He adds that gender-separated wardrobes were included in the collective agreement for 2022. Whether adapted work clothes will also be included, they must discuss during next year’s salary negotiations. – We see that the companies that are good at this also have more female employees and apprentices, he says. Hello! Do you have a good story about adapting work clothes? Perhaps your employer has been good at adapting both clothes and work tasks to what you can do? Or not? Please give me a sound!
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– Easier to ask them to register sick – news Vestland
