About — The Safety Rack
A National Nonprofit Built Around a Persistent Workplace Safety Problem
The Safety Rack is an independent nonprofit dedicated to advancing access to properly fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) and workwear for women across industries.
We were created in response to a persistent workplace safety gap: too often, PPE has been designed, sized, tested, selected, and procured without fully accounting for women's bodies, proportions, job tasks, and real-world working conditions. The result can be limited access to properly fitting protection, inconsistent options, and safety systems that do not work equally well for every worker.
Our role is to help change that.
Through research, education, advocacy, industry collaboration, and the elevation of worker experiences, The Safety Rack works to better understand where gaps exist and help move practical solutions forward.
We are not a PPE manufacturer, retailer, clothing company, or e-commerce brand. Our independence allows us to work across industries and alongside workers, employers, researchers, manufacturers, distributors, associations, and policymakers with one primary focus: improving worker protection.
Because properly fitting PPE should not be considered a specialty product. It should be part of how safety is designed from the start.
"Advancing access to properly fitting PPE and workwear for women."
Our work focuses on research, education, advocacy, and practical resources that help workers, employers, manufacturers, distributors, safety professionals, researchers, policymakers, and industry organizations improve access to properly fitting PPE.
Fit Is a Safety Issue — Not a Fashion Issue
Properly fitting PPE is not about appearance, and it is more than a matter of comfort. Fit can affect how protective equipment performs, how a worker moves and performs their job, whether PPE is worn correctly and consistently, and ultimately how effectively that worker is protected.
When PPE does not fit properly, it can compromise protection, restrict movement, interfere with job tasks, discourage consistent use, and in some cases create additional hazards.
That is why fit cannot be treated as an afterthought. Proper fit is a fundamental part of effective worker protection — and every worker should have access to PPE and workwear designed to protect them while doing the job they were hired to do.
Protection
Ill-fitting PPE can fail to provide the level of protection it was designed to deliver.
Mobility
Equipment that does not fit restricts movement and can impair a worker's ability to do their job safely.
Consistent Wear
Workers are less likely to wear PPE consistently when it is uncomfortable, ill-fitting, or not designed for their body.
Worker Safety
Ultimately, fit affects outcomes — and every worker deserves PPE that works for their body and their job.
Research. Education. Resources. Advocacy.
Research
We conduct and support research related to PPE fit, access, and worker experiences to build the evidence base for change.
Education
We develop educational resources for employers, safety professionals, and workers to raise awareness and drive better practices.
Practical Resources
We provide resources that help people identify PPE and workwear options designed for women across industries.
Collaboration
We bring together manufacturers, distributors, researchers, employers, safety professionals, and end users to drive systemic change.
Advocacy
We advocate for greater consideration of fit, sizing, design, access, procurement, standards, and workplace practices.
Worker Voice
We elevate the real-world experiences of women who rely on PPE at work to ensure their perspectives shape solutions.
Across the Entire PPE Ecosystem
The Safety Rack serves and works alongside a broad range of stakeholders — because improving access to properly fitting PPE & workwear requires action at every level.
Wherever Workers Rely on PPE & Workwear
Our work spans every sector where workers depend on protective equipment and workwear to do their jobs safely.
Construction
Manufacturing
Utilities
Healthcare
Emergency Services
Fire Service
Transportation
Military
Law Enforcement
Other PPE-Dependent Industries
Board of Directors
The Safety Rack is guided by a Board of Directors made up of professionals with diverse experience across safety, industry, research, leadership, and workforce advocacy.
Together, they bring a range of perspectives and expertise to help strengthen our mission, guide strategic growth, and ensure our work remains grounded in the real-world needs of the workers and industries we serve.
Their leadership helps The Safety Rack continue building a strong, sustainable organization focused on advancing access to properly fitting PPE and workwear for women across industries.
Amy Roosa
Founder & Executive Director
Amy Roosa is a safety professional, researcher, speaker, and advocate focused on advancing access to properly fitting personal protective equipment and workwear for women across industries.
She founded The Safety Rack after seeing firsthand how often women were expected to adapt to PPE and workwear that had not been designed with them in mind. What began as an effort to raise awareness has grown into a national nonprofit focused on research, education, industry collaboration, and practical resources that help move the conversation from awareness to action.
Through The Safety Rack, Amy works with workers, employers, manufacturers, safety professionals, researchers, and industry organizations to better understand the barriers women face and help drive meaningful, evidence-informed change.
From Awareness to Action
The Safety Rack is moving beyond awareness and into research, education, resources, collaboration, and implementation. We are building the research base, developing practical resources, and forming the partnerships needed to make properly fitting PPE an industry expectation — not an individual worker problem.
Our goal is a future where every worker, regardless of gender, body type, or industry, has access to PPE that fits properly and performs as intended.
Join the Movement for Worker Safety
There are many ways to support The Safety Rack's mission — whether you're a worker, employer, researcher, manufacturer, or advocate.