Some industries are more dangerous than others because of the increased risk associated with hazards that can cause severe injury or even death. Any business operating in environments where workers are exposed to these hazards must be equipped with proper safety gear.
And for many jobs in the oil and gas, utilities, iron and steel manufacturing, and mining industries, flame-resistant (FR) clothing is an essential tool for keeping employees safe and protected from burns caused by flash fires, electric arc-flash and combustible dust.
But protection from these hazards requires more than just safety apparel. It requires a dedicated and programmatic approach to obtaining and maintaining the right flame and arc-flash protection for each of your wearers based on the requirements for their role.
A uniform rental program can be a key service offering to help you manage your flame-resistant clothing effectively. After all, the safety of your team and the compliance of your entire organization is at stake. There are many benefits to using a FR uniform rental service from a trusted and experienced service provider like Vestis.
1. Safety and Compliance
Ensuring that your organization complies with all the safety apparel requirements for all your workers is an ongoing task that requires dedicated attention to detail. Your facility might need several distinct types or classes of FR gear with different ratings for each of the various roles that need them, which can complicate your compliance requirements.
With a uniform rental program, however, the effort to comply with regulatory requirements can be minimized. That is because your service provider can leverage years of expertise managing FR uniforms.
If your garments become frayed or worn, then your service provider can quickly resolve the situation before your compliance is jeopardized. Vestis repairs or replaces FR clothing items that could compromise safety and tracks all your garments to ensure they are always maintained and will continue to meet the standard mandates for workplace safety.
2. Cost Effectiveness
Using a uniform rental program for your FR clothing can also be cost effective for business owners. With a rental service, there are little to no upfront costs. You don’t have to buy the specialized, sometimes expensive, FR uniforms. Nor do you have to spend precious time figuring out what items you need to remain compliant. Your rental service provider will replace garments as needed, which means you could never have to buy the clothing at all, because it’s all included in a convenient monthly rental fee.
3. FR Clothing Cleaning
One of the main benefits of renting your uniforms is that your provider washes your FR clothing items for you. FR garments require special safety and care considerations to help the distinct types of FR fabrics retain their flame resistance.
Soils and stains MUST be removed entirely before FR clothing can be used in the field. A small oil stain on your fire-resistant coveralls, for example, could ignite under the right circumstances. Thus your FR garments must be free and clean of safety-compromising contaminants, like soap residue or calcium and magnesium salt build ups (sometimes caused by hard water).
A uniform rental service can remove these challenges, shifting the hassle of cleaning from your team to an experienced professional with established cleaning processes and protocols for FR fabrics.
4. Routine Uniform Maintenance
With a uniform service provider, routine maintenance is also one less thing to worry about. FR garments are kept in top shape, and if repairs or replacements are needed, your uniform services provider will take care of it – and it’s all included in the monthly rental service charge.
This helps to minimize any downtime when workers sit idle due to lack of adequate safety equipment. Routine maintenance coverage also means that your employees can focus on their jobs and staying safe while performing their jobs instead of fixing or cleaning garments.
5. Time Management
With all maintenance, cleaning and FR garment inventory management taken care of, you and your team gain valuable time that would have otherwise been used on the daily upkeep of your uniform program. Garment management is incredibly time consuming, especially for larger businesses and particularly when dealing with specialized FR fabrics.
A uniform rental program allows you to spend this time growing your business and allows your employees to spend their time excelling in their role by mastering their craft – whether that’s electrical repair, welding or manufacturing steel/iron. And this keeps everyone safe and moving forward.
