Protective Clothing Market Projected To Grow At A CAGR Of 6.70% During The Forecast Period 2020 To 2025

Growing incidents of manual accidents in the workplace, rising demand for respiratory equipment for mining, emergency relief, military, law-enforcement facilities, health care and fire services is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period 2019-2025. Protective Clothing Market size is forecast to reach $13.21 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 6.70% during 2020-2025.

Increasing demand for industrial clothing and the growing concern towards workers health, along with the strict government regulations and labor laws have forced industrial producers in North America and Europe to obey the strictly standards and guidelines established by government organizations to prevent any type of occupational hazard. 

Manufacturing & construction industry involves vigorous activities that are often prone to accidents, risks and maybe hazard to the lives of the workers. Therefore, it is necessary, for each worker to wear adequate and suitable protective clothing that protects against possible hazards due to weather changes, electricity impacts, and other risks. Wearing a reflected vest is necessary for site engineers to maintain visibility while conducting site inspections and other site activities. Protective clothing used in manufacturing and construction industry includes gloves and high visibility clothing. However, the manufacturing & construction industries are being significantly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as most of the countries have issued “stay at home guidance” i.e., lockdown. This factor is limiting protective clothing market growth in current situation. 

North America holds the major market share of protective clothing, owing to its wide range applications in various end-use industries such as construction, oil & gas, manufacturing, and healthcare. This is much evident in the augmented import of goods from the parent industry, which indicates a perceptible demand for protective clothing. According to the Government of Canada, the country’s construction industry employs 1.2 million men and women. Moreover, the industry breached $14.8 million as of April 2019, according to the latest findings by the government. Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) stated that, the Canadian provinces with the most accidents in the construction industry, in 2017, with 951 workplace fatalities recorded in Canada, an increase of 46% from the previous year. Hence to avoid such accidents more care is to be taken by the employers by providing the employees with necessary protective clothing and equipment’s.

Improvement in economic climate along with boom in industrialization across the globe is leading the growth of protective clothing. Industries are embracing protective clothing to keep their workers safe and stringent regulations from government are by far the leading growth of protective clothing. Work-related accidents and illness in the US were down to 2.8 incidents per 100 in 2019, from 10.9 incidents per 100 employees in 1972 due to protective equipment, according to the US Bureau of Labor. With the increasing rate of industrialization, the number of manufacturing procedures and policy has increased by many proportions, as a result of which personal protective equipment companies are focusing on developing specific protective wear with a view to ensuring maximum workers health. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) global survey of industrial policies reveals that, over the past 10 years, at least 101 economies across the developed and developing world (representing over 90% of global GDP) have implemented structured strategies for industrial growth. The last five years have seen the emergence of new approaches accelerate. The growth in industrial sector will rise the adoption of protective clothing.

Multifunctional durable protective clothing meets a variety of requirements. The protective clothing can provide the wearer protection from one or more hazards. These may involve protection against mechanical impact, physical injury, heat/fire, extreme cold, rain, electric shock, radiation, invisibility and toxic substances and infectious agents. Design of new textile fabrics with multifunctional activity and property has gain much attention in recent years. Graphene can be integrated into polymers / textiles to enhance the properties of fabrics for different applications.  Conventional protective clothing has impediments such as high weight, bulky nature, lack of mobility, heat stress, low heat dissipation, high physical stress, diminishing dexterity, and others.  Because of the graphene's superlative properties, fabrics improved with this material can be an effective means of overcoming these limitations and enhancing properties such as mechanical strength, antibacterial action, flame resistance, conductivity, and UV power. Therefore, graphene modified new performance textile may be the breakthrough to overcome the shortcomings of protective clothing.

The major companies in the Protective Clothing Market include Honeywell, DuPont, 3M, Sioen, Kimberly Clark Corp, Glen Raven Inc., Derekduck, Ansell Ltd., Lakeland Industries Inc., Mallcom (India) Limited, among others. In March 2019, Ansell Limited has launched a product MICROFLEX® MidKnight™ XTRA, a nitrile exam glove that has been tested against both fentanyl and gastric acid to simulate real-world overdose situations. The glove features an elongated cuff for added coverage of the wrist and forearm and has a distinctive black color that allows wearers to easily see potentially hazardous powders on hands.

To increase awareness of health and safety, the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has teamed up with various health and safety organizations, through the Workplace Innovator Award program, to create new ideas and solutions. Agencies in collaboration with market players are expected to encourage these measures to strengthen safety standards, which acts a driving for protective clothing market during 2020-2025.