How to keep your employees safe all day

Most employers understand their responsibility to provide their employees with a safe working environment. Removing trip hazards, and ensuring tools are properly maintained are basic to employee well-being, but how much thought do you really give to what your employees wear to work every day?

Creating a safe working environment is about more than just the building or outdoor location where the work takes place. Safety must also extend to whether what the employee is wearing offers sufficient protection for the challenges which they will face during their working day.

The right clothing 

If your employees are responsible for providing their own workwear then ensuring health and safety rules are strictly followed isn't always easy. Unless you arrange for a time-consuming personal inspection of every item of clothing every day, it can be difficult to discern whether a piece of clothing offers the desired level of protection. The most realistic solution to this problem is to offer a range of compulsory employee workwear that you know has been manufactured to a suitably high standard and will protect the wearer during the day.

Factors to consider

When planning a workwear policy, there are two key aspects you must constantly bear in mind. You must think about workwear that might prevent an accident from happening, such as non-slip footwear or a high visibility vest. You should also consider workwear such as, safety helmets that can minimise damage when an accident does occur. Both of these elements must be kept central in any company workwear policy.

What's the right workwear?

If you are going to have a workwear policy for your company, you must develop the policy in collaboration with your employees. When determining what the employee will wear for protection you must assess each risk they will face throughout their working day, and they may be better placed to identify some of those risks than you are.

You will need to ensure that they have access to protective hats, safety vests and gloves if they need them, but it isn't a good idea to insist on excessively cumbersome safety apparel unless the job actually requires it. By working with your staff to set a workwear policy, you can ensure that everyone has the protection they need without being over-burdened by a 'one size fits all' approach to safety.

Protecting your employees doesn't have to be difficult, but it does involve careful analysis of potential risks and giving thought to how those risks can be overcome.