There are many reasons why employers choose to supply employees with workwear, with the most important one being that workwear helps to protect employees’ health and safety. Employers are required by law to provide a safe working environment and certain types of PPE are essential in environments where there are safety risks. As well as PPE, workwear can also play an important role in the health and safety of employees.
Appropriate material
Where people are working in hot environments, it is important that their clothing is fully breathable to keep them as comfortable as possible and to stop them from getting too hot.
For some types of work, flame retardant material may be required to protect employees, such as working on welding or other types of work that involve using flames. So, it is important to consider what type of fabric is most suitable for the type of work.
Properly fitting workwear
Where people are working with machinery, it is crucial that they do not wear any clothing that is loose or has loose parts that could catch in equipment. For example, a tie could get caught in machinery, so anyone operating machinery should have appropriate clothing. Similarly, clothes that are too baggy can get caught in equipment and poor choice of footwear can also cause accidents through slipping or tripping.
Assessing risks and hazards
Some workplaces have a higher level of risk than others, so employers should perform a risk assessment to determine what PPE should be provided and whether certain protective clothing should be provided to employees. The Health and Safety Manager should ensure that the relevant regulations are complied with, including providing free PPE "wherever there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways."
There are other considerations to take into account such as the practicality of wearing types of clothing. As an example, someone working in a kitchen will often be working with flames but fire-retardant coveralls would not be appropriate for the type of work they do. People working in areas that require good levels of hygiene will also need to choose workwear with the most hygienic fabric.
Professionalism
As well as being an important aspect of health and safety, workwear has a huge bearing on the professional appearance of employees. Retail and hospitality employees often have smart clothing with the business logo embroidered onto polo shirts, to identify that they work there and to have a smart appearance, with employees all wearing the same uniform.
Workwear audits
Regular audits of employee workwear should take place, to ensure that clothing is replaced when required, to keep employees protected and to ensure there are no rips or tears that could cause an accident. The clothing should also be checked in terms of being an appropriate fit for the employee, for comfort as well as safety purposes.
As well as providing PPE if necessary and protective workwear, employers should also assess how equipment and other workplace details can be safer, such as improving the processes for operating machinery, or the layout of the workplace.
Hivis.net is one of the top UK suppliers of protective workwear, providing products that meet the relevant standards and we also only supply products made from the highest quality of fabric.
Whether you are looking for smart, slip tested shoes, breathable polo shirts or flame-retardant clothing to keep your employees protected, visit our online store to see our huge range of workwear stock and to place your order.