The National Site Standard for Female Operatives has been launched at the House of Lords
The women in construction site standard has been created by Construction for Women (CFW).
It lists 11 proposed changes designed to improve conditions and support for women in the construction industry.
Several critical areas need to be addressed
These areas include welfare provisions, PPE suitability (such as better fitting men), behavioural expectations, reporting mechanisms, safeguarding, psychological safety, and leadership accountability.
A social media post from Construction for Women says: “The Standard brings together good practice, lived experience and operational insight to provide a clear baseline for site safety, welfare, professional conduct and inclusion. It is designed to support greater consistency across projects and organisations nationwide, and to help improve retention and long-term participation of women in the construction workforce.”
The post further states that the framework marks “an important step in advancing consistent, accountable approaches to inclusion and workforce sustainability across the construction sector.”
More details about the framework can be found here.
Women are being encouraged into the industry
In October last year, the Circle Partnership launched its pilot programme designed to improve the numbers of women entering the construction industry, and boost female talent retention.
The programme is achieving this by providing skills, connections, and confidence to women in the sector, acting both as upskilling and incentive to remain in the industry.
Female leaders from EDF, Artus, SSE, Brodies, Rettie, Shoosmiths, Thomas and Adamson, and more all have female leaders acting as mentors on the programme, guiding mid-level women through the industry and encouraging them to achieve higher levels in their career.
At the programme’s launch, Ceri Moyers, co-founder of The Circle Partnership, said: “We’re excited to be bringing the Circle Academy to Scotland and have been hugely encouraged by the support shown from female leaders in terms of their willingness to mentor with us. We know that our programme is making a difference to the sector’s capacity and capability, and we want to bring that impact to Scotland, particularly in the face of all of the upcoming investment in the education and energy sector and the associated skills challenges this brings.
“The Circle Academy pilot, which will commence in 2026, is designed to address the primary barriers women face to progression at work and combines emerging leadership training, a thought leadership summit, networking and advocacy events, and cross-sector mentoring with senior female industry leaders.”
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