September 28, 2023 How Proper Workwear Improves Health & Safety

As an employer, keeping your workers safe has to be of paramount importance.

As an employer, keeping your workers safe has to be of paramount importance. Health and safety audits will flag up many things that you can do to keep people safe such as identifying trip hazards and testing electrical equipment, but did you know that giving people the right workwear can be one of the biggest tools in your safety armoury?

Safety workwear plays a crucial role in many different industries as it is specifically designed to safeguard workers from harm. The Health and Safety Executive estimates the personal protective equipment, including safety workwear, can reduce the risk of workplace injuries by as much as 90%, which just goes to show how important it can be. Here, Core Workwear take a look at why workwear is now an essential investment for almost any business.

Protecting against injuries

Many different types of workwear have been designed with the sole aim of guarding against injury. There are all sorts of roles where employees face the risk of cuts, punctures, burns and abrasions on a daily basis, and so they need the right kind of workwear to prevent this from happening. Some of the workwear that you need to provide might include gloves, hard hats and steel capped boots to name just a few of the options available.

The injuries that employees might face can be minor ones, but they can also be life changing and so it is vital that you put everything in place that you can to prevent this from happening.

Hazardous materials

In some businesses, employees might be required to work with hazardous materials such as chemicals. These can lead to severe injuries such as burns but can also lead to serous damage from inhalation.

That is why it is important to make sure that you have items such as gloves and aprons which a durable enough to protect against the materials being handled, as well as ensuring that there are garments such as masks available to stop fumes from being breathed in.

Visibility

One of the most common sights when it comes to safety workwear is that of high visibility materials. These tend to feature bright colours such as green, yellow or arrange to make them easy to see, even from a distance. They will also include strips of reflective material that will make the individual much easier to see in low-light situations.

Making sure that employees are easy to see is incredibly important in all kinds of environments, but particularly those involving transportation, construction and emergency services. They can be worn in warehouses or at the side of roads to make sure that anyone in the area knows that they are there.

Typically, high visibility materials are added to vests, coats and trousers to make sure large areas of the body are easy to see.

Insulation

Many different industries will require their employees to do substantial amounts of their work outdoors, which can be less than fun on a bleak January morning. Therefore, the workwear that you provide not only needs to make them visible, but it will also need to be well insulated. Protecting staff from the cold and the rain can help to keep them healthy, and it can also make them more productive, as it is much harder to do anything effective when you are cold. This means that there should not only be gloves and hats available, but also coats, jackets, socks and trousers containing thermal layers to help keep the cold weather at bay.

Regulation compliance

Employers do not just provide safety workwear out of the goodness of their hearts; it is also to make sure that their businesses are compliant with any relevant legislation. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) emphasises the importance of having all the necessary safety equipment in place, and this includes workwear. This is to ensure the safety of all employees, no matter what business they work within.

Complying with regulations is not just important to keep your business within the law, but it can also help with the morale of your staff. Each employee will be given a degree of peace of mind in knowing that they have everything that they need to keep them safe, and it can help to show them that they work for an employer who has their best interests at heart. This can then have a direct impact on the wellbeing of your workforce and their productivity.

Should a business fail to comply with these regulations, they can face prohibition notices and may even be prosecuted for serious or repeated breaches. If this happens, the punishment can be hefty fines or imprisonment in some cases.

Business reputation

If a visitor walks into your business, or a team of your employees arrive on a site and everyone is suited and booted in all the protective workwear that they need, it can do a lot to enhance the image of your business. Not only does it show that you take regulations seriously and work within the law, it can also do a lot to make your staff look more professional and give the impression that everyone is in safe and knowledgeable hands.

Safety workwear will need significant investment, but it will be worth it in the long run to have a happy and safe workforce. It is important to remember to keep a check on workwear and replace or renew it when it starts to show signs of wear and tear as it is likely to be less effective at this point.

Safety workwear should be a primary concern for many businesses, and one of the first things to invest in. It can be something that offers your workforce peace of mind, but it can also be the thing that saves their lives. There are many different choices available, and many can also include the branding of your business, so make sure that you work with your health and safety team to choose the right items to keep your employees safe and your business compliant.

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