An online backlash against “sexist messaging” at an industry event has led to positive pledges to tackle sexism in construction, diversity leaders have said.
On The Tools faced criticism on social media over photos of two women in tight-fitting PPE-style outfits at its awards, which took place in Birmingham last Thursday (21 November).
The organiser has since met a diversity consultant and chartered quantity surveyor and is set to join an online event to discuss how the construction industry can tackle sexism.
In a LinkedIn post, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant Harriet Waley-Cohen said she had been contacted by attendees who were “appalled by the regressive, sexist messaging” at the event.
She added: “When women are sexualised as eye candy like this, it tells every person present that women aren’t to be taken seriously, that they are objects for entertainment and titillation.”
By noon today, Waley-Cohen’s post had been reposted 77 times and attracted 371 comments.
Equal Engineers chief executive Mark McBride-Wright wrote that On The Tools’ misjudgment “perpetuates issues of gender equality” and “undermines the focus on women’s safety, inclusion and representation”.
Communications strategist Liz Walder commented that the incident “completely devalues the huge level of work done elsewhere to encourage young women to enter the construction profession”.
Others said the women’s outfits trivialised PPE in a harmful way, given difficulties women site workers face in accessing safe PPE.
Katy Robinson, senior project manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council and founder of the National Association of Women in Construction Yorkshire, said: “Publicity stunts like this really do push us back and reinforce the negative and false stereotype that women’s PPE is for fashion over function.”
Construction News understands that On The Tools chief executive Lee Wilcox last night (26 November) met with Waley-Cohen, diversity consultant Daniele Fiandaca and chartered quantity surveyor Faye Allen.
Allen, who is a director at consultancy JS Held, told CN that Wilcox “held his hands up to what has happened” during the discussion.
“I think good will come out of this, even though it’s been uncomfortable for them for the past 48 hours,” she said.
Wilcox, Waley-Cohen and Allen will rerun the discussion publicly, in a LinkedIn live event this Friday (29 November), titled ‘From F&*k up to Positive Change: positive change for women in construction’.
Allen said she hopes the discussion sparks productive conversations about the issues affecting women in construction and “opens peoples’ eyes” to sexism.
She said: “I’m really passionate about increasing diversity in the construction industry but I can’t keep going into schools telling girls it’s a great place to work until we change the culture.”
On Allen’s LinkedIn post announcing the event, she added: “Lee is a really nice man with great values and he is showing up despite the social media storm… to own that mistake and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“We need to be allies to each other, even when sometimes we humans inevitably make mistakes.”
On The Tools has been contacted for comment.
