Yes. Thank you very much for the opportunity to respond to this question.
In terms of the offshore oil industry in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are actually experiencing a lag in comparison to the west, it seems. Much of what I hear from women working offshore is that the safety equipment and the personal protective equipment is not yet in sizes that fit them appropriately.
When you look at the offshore industry in particular, there is a helicopter ride from the onshore to the offshore platform. During that ride there are survival suits that are worn by the workers, women included; however, those suits are in men's sizes. They're not accommodating to smaller people in general, and they certainly don't take women's anatomy into account when designing that particular equipment.
It is slowly starting to change, and attention has been brought to it in the past year especially. However, it is still slow to come, including proper boots and proper gloves for women offshore, which has been a safety concern from our organization's standpoint, but also for the women working in the offshore industry.
We certainly feel that doing more research on personal protective equipment, how it affects injury rates and safety in general, is something that is key in moving forward in a positive direction with women in non-traditional occupations.