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Choosing the right protective clothing for your employees can be a daunting task, but certainly a necessary one. In what situations is it necessary to equip the team with appropriate clothing and what should guide their purchase?

What is protective clothing?

People who are not involved in health and safety on a daily basis may confuse terms such as protective clothing and workwear. Although there is much in common between the two categories, it is useful to distinguish appropriately between the different types of clothing for workers. What protective and work clothing certainly have in common is the need for them to be provided by the employer himself, obliged to do so by the applicable Labour Code. When talking about workwear, it is important to think about such textiles, which are primarily intended to serve as a cover for the employee’s private clothes – they should prevent them from getting dirty or damaged in the course of their work duties. Such clothing items can be used, for example, by people working in excavation or construction, but also by warehouse workers. Workwear can also be defined as clothing for security personnel. And what is the workwear for a warehouseman or another type of a worker? Above all, it should be comfortable, not restrict freedom of movement, and be suited to the type of work being carried out by the person who wears it. It is also worth noting that workwear can also be used for promotional purposes – T-shirts, trousers or work vests can be subjected to labelling – for example, by having a company logo on them. Protective clothing is much more widely used. It is, in the main, a functional employee wardrobe – its function is to literally protect the employee. Protective clothing helps to shield them from the harmful effects of the elements they may come into contact with in the working environment. Unlike workwear, protective clothing must be manufactured to health and safety standards and be quality-certified to confirm its functionality and the level of safety provided to workers.

When must an employee wear protective clothing?

As mentioned, protective clothing, as a means of personal protection, allows the worker’s body to be shielded from the negative effects of the work environment. Thus, workers in industries such as, for example, the following will be required to use protective clothing:

• catering – chefs or other food handlers must wear protective clothing to protect themselves from heat and cold or protective footwear to prevent injury from sharp, falling kitchen utensils,
• chemical industry – especially where work involves direct contact with chemicals of various types,
• the production sector – if, for example, workers are exposed to noise – then personal protective equipment such as special noise-absorbing headphones should be provided,
• welding – in this case, workers must be equipped not only with protective clothing (for example, leather aprons, overalls), but also with head and face protection (welding masks).

Choosing the right workwear items – what to look out for?

As an employer, you must provide your employees with appropriate protective clothing adapted to the needs of the working environment. By definition, the clothes must not be of poor quality or from untested sources. the main criterion for the selection of protective clothing should be the approvals and certificates issued for individual items. Depending on the intended use, protective clothing must comply with technical standards, stated, for example, in EU regulations ( PPER 2016/425/EU ) or national regulations such as PN-EN ISO 13688:2013-12 . The second criterion, which shouldn’t also be overlooked, is the employee’s convenience . It is worth paying particular attention to selecting the correct size so that the protective clothing does not put even the slightest pressure on or cause discomfort. With a choice of clothes from different brands