The GO Company is looking to break down a barrier for women in construction by offering period product packs for construction sites. Here we speak with co-founders Jasmyn Smith and Logan Barnett about their efforts to improve hygiene access for female tradies across Australia
Earlier this year the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) announced its 2026 Bright Ideas Grants recipients, with the Business Grant being awarded to Tasmania’s The GO Company.
Co-founded by electricians Jasmyn Smith and Logan Barnett, The GO Company is aiming to address a lack of access to sanitation products on construction sites with its stylish and durable bags and packs.
The $20,000 in funding will help develop, produce, market and distribute the packs, particularly to smaller and more rural construction businesses that are less likely to have toilet facilities available.
Everyday issue
For female tradies across Australia, a lack to basic hygiene facilities on site is a common issue, with a lack of toilets, running water, soap and disposal facilities for sanitary products.
Smith and Barnett are both qualified electricians who have worked in the industry for years. Smith says it was working alongside her electrician and sound engineer father at music festivals that attracted her to the trade, while Barnett says she was looking for a practical hands-on job that had plenty of travel.
Having worked on a variety of sites across Tasmania, they say that a lack of access to amenities has been a common issue that they have run into and it’s time for industry to make changes that support women working on construction sites.
“At the moment we’re lucky if we get a Portaloo or running water,” Barnett says.
“Some of the bigger sites do have toilets, running water and sanitary bins, but there are no period products available.”
They say this lack of access to facilities and products isn’t just an inconvenience to a woman who has unexpectedly gotten her period – it can cause downtime for the business too.
“Logan and I had been working in industry for a long time on our own, so it wasn’t until we started having female apprentices work below us, and we saw them going through the exact same issues that we did, that we realised what a widespread issue this is,” Smith says.
“That’s when we had a meeting with the business that I work for and said something needs to change because the young apprentices were either having to leave site to go to the nearest toilet, or, if they got their period unexpectedly, they were having to get somebody to drive them home. This is time consuming and costly for the business.”
The solution is to have a pack of sanitary items readily available that can be kept on site or in work utes, just as medical kits are. Making them discrete and easy to access means construction sites are more inclusive of women’s needs. That, along with access to on-site toilets, resolves a common issue and should be standard across Australia, they add.
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Pushing for change
The GO Company has a selection of different products available, from bags and boxes to a dispenser and individual items. However, it isn’t just a business selling products, it’s also a hub for women in trades.
A monthly Tradie Ladies group meets in Launceston, giving women a space to discuss issues they may be facing or network with other female tradies, and Smith and Barnett are also using the platform to advocate for change at the government level to make access to toilets on site a standard.
“We’re looking to open up more opportunities for women coming into the industry by having these conversations and letting them know that we’re there to support them if they are having issues and we’re trying to make safe safer work spaces for them,” Smith says.
The grant will enable The Go Company to promote their products and ideas to a wider audience, they add, with the aim for their sanitary packs to be standard on all construction sites across the whole of Australia.
“This money will help us get the next lot of stock that we need, and to get that out to regional areas that might not have heard about us,” Barnett says.
“We’ll be developing and marketing the packs but also undertaking research into how it has affected the community.
“This grant is a massive opportunity for us to gain some exposure in all areas. We’ll be looking to donate packs to regional areas, and this is where the conversation starts.
“We also support charities, with $1 from each pack going to a different charity each year. This year it is being donated to TIACS, which supports mental health and suicide prevention.”
Bright Ideas Grants
The NAWIC Bright Ideas Grants are helping to support individuals and businesses looking to generate significant positive outcomes for women in construction.
This year’s individual grant recipient was Samantha Grant, who was awarded $30,000 to develop the Crib Shift: Building A Better Way Back pilot program to help women navigate parental leave and return to work after having a child.
NAWIC CEO Cathryn Greville says the Bright Ideas Grants provide an important opportunity to support innovative projects for women in construction that focus on retention, career progression, leadership pathways and cultural change.
“I congratulate both of this year’s Bright Ideas Grants recipients for their innovative projects to support women in construction and I look forward to seeing the positive outcomes of their efforts,” she says.
“Driving gender equity through culture change is at the heart of our organisational strategy and it’s inspiring to be able to support projects like these that help to create fair, inclusive and respectful workplaces where everyone can thrive.”
For more information on The GO Company, visit: www.thegocompany.com.au
For more information on NAWIC, visit: nawic.com.au