The importance of providing comfortable high visibility workwear to your employees

For owners of businesses in the construction and industrial sector, your primary concern should be to ensure any high visibility workwear you provide to your employees is able to keep them visible in low light working environments, as well adequately protect them from any hazards they might encounter. But this doesn’t just mean that it needs to be compliant with the relevant safely standards; you should also be ensuring that your high visibility workwear is comfortable to wear.

If the protective workwear isn’t comfortable, it could restrict the movement of employees working in industrial environments. This won’t just affect their productivity; the main concern is that it could also present a serious health and safety risk. This is vital because as an employer, you have a basic duty to protect the health, safety, and well-being of your employees, and this applies whether they’re working within your business premises, or working off-site.

Here’s what you need to ensure when providing effective and comfortable high visibility workwear to your employees…

It fits your employees correctly

As per the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992, you have a legal requirement to ensure the high visibility garments worn by your employees are comfortable. This means that it should fit them correctly, and cause the minimum amount of restriction to their movement. If an employee’s workwear is too small, they won’t be able to comfortably complete their tasks. Garments that are too large, on the other hand, could cause them to trip or get themselves caught on machinery.

To minimise these risks, some of the steps you can take is to measure your employees before ordering their high visibility garments, as well as making the ordering process easier by choosing a supplier that offers a wide range of sizes. At phs Besafe, our garments range in size from XS to 6XL, and our trousers are available in Short, Regular, and Tall sizes.

It doesn’t restrict movement

Other ways you can provide comfortable high visibility workwear to your employees is by ensuring the garments have features such as movement panels, elasticated cuffs and waists, and articulated knees.

At phs Besafe, our garments are designed to offer maximum freedom of movement, which is why our Premium Coveralls and Jackets have elasticated cuffs with dual fix positing to allow for a comfortable fit around wrists. Additionally, our Premium Trousers also feature a lower access panel for kneepads.

It offers protection from the cold

Another factor to take into consideration when choosing high visibility workwear is that it needs to be able to keep the wearer both dry, and at a comfortable body temperature. This is especially important in winter as its chillier weather lowers our immune systems, and the bacteria that causes colds and flu thrive in colder temperatures. Provide your employee with suitable high visibility jackets to keep them warm; our Soft Shell Jacket is lined with fleece, and it has been constructed with three layers to ensure it’s both showerproof and windproof.

to limit wind chill effect when working in colder conditions, our garments also feature heavy-duty zips, which are reinforced with a press stud overlap. Nonetheless, as an employer, you’ll also want to make sure that your employees are comfortable in warmer temperatures, as well as colder ones. This means that your high visibility garments are constructed out of a lightweight material (phs Besafe’s are made from an 80/20 polycotton blend), that allows them to move around comfortably without overheating.

It holds their belongings

Although it’s not an essential requirement, ensuring your high visibility workwear has pockets for staff to hold their belongings is another way to make it more comfortable more them, as well as freeing up their hands when working. phs Besafe’s garments have plenty of pockets to keep phones, wallets, and other tools safe, and many items within our ranges also have loops for key fobs and hammers, as well as heavy duty belt loops.

For more information on  our hi vis workwear and industrial laundering service, contact phs Besafe.