Red lockers an important step towards gender equality

RedLocker was founded in 2018 by two secondary school classmates as a UF company (young entrepreneurship). They noticed the taboos, anxiety and sometimes barriers that women and girls can experience in relation to menstruation. So they set out to develop a product that could create gender equal, inclusive work and study environments by providing free period products in locations such as workplaces and schools.

RedLocker is exactly what the name indicates. The company offers smart red lockers that are placed in the ladies’ toilets and dispense a free tampon at the touch of a button.

In autumn 2021, Ragn-Sells installed red lockers in 17 offices and plants in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Estonia.

Susanne Schumann, HR Director of Ragn-Sells Group, sees the partnership with RedLocker as a natural initiative as part of the company’s overall gender equality work and a concrete activity and contribution in relation to Ragn-Sells’ sustainability goals on diversity, gender equality and an inclusive workplace. 

– As an organisation we want to be proactive and forward-looking, and we have therefore decided to start a partnership with RedLocker. Moving forward we will provide free hygiene products in the same way as we provide other common toiletries to all employees. We are proud to support an inclusive environment at Ragn-Sells, says Susanne.

Sofie Hellman (second from left) works at Ragn-Sells’ Högbytorp plant. So far, she and her colleagues have found that the little red locker means more than just convenience and peace of mind.

– We work in a future industry in which we are already at the forefront of sustainability issues related to the environment, and now we are also actively working on gender equality issues. It feels very good that Ragn-Sells is investing in this. It makes you proud and it feels great to show the lockers to new employees, says Sofie.

She says the red locker works really well, that it's easy to refill with tampons, and change the batteries that drives the wheel that dispenses the tampons.

During spring 2022, the partnership and the lockers will be evaluated before a decision is made to install RedLockers in more of the nearly 100 sites within the Ragn-Sells Group.

– Our colleague and facilities manager, Kent, has already noted that we need more lockers given that our plant is continually expanding with new buildings and changing rooms. It’s great that he thinks about this, says Sofie Hellman at Högbytorp.

If you want to learn more about RedLocker’s work, visit their website: www.redLocker.se