Percentage of female safety professionals in transportation increases

According to new data from the 2023 WIT Index, which was recently released by the Women In Trucking Association (WIT), the percentage of female safety professionals in corporations with for-hire or private fleets in the commercial freight transportation industry continues to increase. The WIT Index is an industry barometer to benchmark and measure each year the percentage of women who make up critical roles in transportation.

Safety professionals typically are responsible for preventing occupational injury and illness among workers in their workforce, with an emphasis on professional drivers and workers within their facilities. In the second year of capturing this data on safety professionals, the 2023 WIT Index shows that 41.6% of safety professionals in companies in transportation are women. Additionally, the 2023 WIT Index found that nearly 16% of respondents report having 90% or more of women in safety roles, with more than 25% reporting they have 50% to 89% women in those roles. More than 29% of respondents report having 20% to 49% of women in safety roles, while more than 13% report having 1% to 19% of women in safety roles and more than 16% report they have no women in safety.

“Safety professionals possess a comprehensive understanding of procedures and protocol that have a profound impact on risk mitigation, minimizing safety threats or challenges, and overall workforce safety and wellness,” said Jennifer Hedrick, president and chief executive officer for WIT. “This is a critical component of our industry and an area of immense opportunity for women to build technical and leadership skills.
Initiated in 2016, the WIT Index is based upon reported statistics by companies in transportation, including for-hire trucking companies, private fleets, transportation intermediaries, railroads, ocean carriers, equipment manufacturers, and technology companies. Data involving the 2023 WIT Index was confidentially gathered from January through April of 2023 from 350 participating companies of various sizes operating in the trucking industry. Percentages are reported only as aggregate totals of respondents rather than by individual company.

In 2022, WIT expanded its collection of the percentage of women to include not only safety professionals, but also technicians, operations, human resources and talent management, and sales and marketing. The WIT Index historically also has identified the percentage of women who are in leadership roles and professional drivers.