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Essential Safety Gear for Night Construction
Construction workers face a lot of hazards on the jobsite, and working at night increases the need for preparation and vigilance. Always wear the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for your job and the environment.
High-visibility safety clothes decrease the likelihood of struck-by accidents. Well-designed hi-vis apparel feels and looks good, keeping you comfortable at work. Learn more about essential safety gear for night construction.
High-Visibility Shirts
High-visibility clothes are made with fluorescent fabric and retroreflective material. Retroreflective material reflects a large amount of light back to the original source, rather than angle that light away; this creates a sharp glow. When the lights from heavy, moving equipment or a vehicle reach your hi-vis clothes, the retroreflective material will make you appear brightly illuminated.
Choose a high-visibility shirt with a fit that lets you move around comfortably at work. Though traditional hi-vis clothes have a strictly utilitarian design, modern hi-vis shirts can come in a range of styles that don’t sacrifice the garment’s safety features. You can feel confident wearing your safety shirt because it looks great and keeps you safe.
Hi-Vis Waterproof Jackets
If precipitation is in the forecast, another essential piece of safety gear for night construction is a hi-vis waterproof jacket. The waterproof material will prevent water from soaking into your clothes, and the hi-vis design will work to keep you visible in the dark and rain.
SafetyShirtz offers a Class 3 American Grit Rain Jacket that features a patriotic flag design. The drawstring and adjustable hood make it easy to wear your jacket comfortably, and the inner polyester mesh liner helps keep you warm. Additionally, storm flaps ensure water doesn’t slip into the jacket.
Hi-Vis Sweatshirts or Hoodies
Depending on your work area, night temperatures can plummet and leave you chilly. You don’t want to cover your hi-vis shirt with a hoodie or sweatshirt that doesn’t improve your visibility—even slightly obscuring the hi-vis fabric dramatically increases your risk of injury.
High-visibility apparel makes you more visible to other construction workers and passersby. After all, it’s more difficult for vehicle and equipment operators to see other people at night than at other times. And if you’re working near traffic, automobile drivers are more likely to be tired, distracted, or intoxicated at night than during the day. Wear a hi-vis sweatshirt or hoodie if you feel cold at the construction site.
Stay warm with stylish, comfortable hi-vis hoodies from SafetyShirtz. Our collection of warm apparel comes in a range of colors and designs so you can find the piece that suits your personality. Shop with us for durable safety apparel today.
A Buyer’s Guide for Custom Safety Apparel
Safety apparel improves worker visibility and helps to prevent struck-by accidents, such as backovers. But traditionally bulky, unattractive hi-vis gear can demoralize workers and turn them away from wearing their safety clothes.
Increase voluntary compliance with stylish hi-vis clothes. Make the best decisions for your team members with this buyer’s guide for custom safety apparel.
1. Select the Right Performance Level
Safety apparel’s number one job is protecting personnel from accidents and injuries. That’s why it’s important to get clothes that perform well in the worker’s particular environment.
The ANSI/ISEA 107 standard provides guidelines for hi-vis clothing standards, categorizing them into types and classes. Types are based on expected use settings and work activities. Class 1 garments are designed to meet the minimum requirements of high-visibility materials, while Class 3 garments must meet the highest requirements.
The classification depends on attributes of the garment’s bright fabric and reflective materials. Fluorescent fabrics appear brighter than the worker’s environment. Retroreflective material improves visibility in low-light or dark conditions when a light source shines on the garment.
Selecting the right performance level ensures proper protection for personnel. And it’s important to meet OSHA standards to create a safe, compliant workplace.
2. Consider the Weather
You want personnel to feel comfortable in the safety apparel you provide. Consider whether you want to order T-shirts or hoodies and add special features, such as moisture-wicking.
If you’re ordering T-shirts, choose between long and short sleeves. Sleeve lengths can help workers feel warmer or cooler. For cold worksites, hoodies provide excellent comfort. Thicker material will keep workers’ core and arms warmer, and the hoodie protects the head, ears, and neck from the cold and wind.
Fabric type and garment construction also impact how the apparel keeps the wearer warm or cool. Some garments come with vented mesh side panels that improve ventilation so that fabric doesn’t become soaked with perspiration. Moisture-wicking improves comfort and can help reduce fatigue.
3. Choose a Design
One of the most exciting things about custom safety apparel is choosing the design. When you order from SafetyShirtz, you can select a design from our lineup or create a new design.
Our current selection features an array of designs, such as topographic, patriotic, and camping graphics. The design of each garment complements the hard work and determination of the person wearing it.
Custom safety apparel provides business owners with a practical way to increase brand awareness. Your business’s logo promotes outside recognition of your company. Whenever your team is on the job, passersby will recognize your business and your quality work.
Using your business’s logo also builds team spirit. Logos help your personnel stand out and stand together. And when safety clothes look great, it can enhance workers’ sense of pride in their work and the company that values them.
4. Don’t Forget the Back
With custom safety clothes, your personnel can look great. The design on the back of your apparel is another opportunity to enhance the style and improve branding.
Currently, custom work shirt orders from SafetyShirtz start at 48 pieces and offer the same front and back design. Starting at 126 pieces, you can choose different designs for the front and back of the garment. Adding the business logo on the back of the apparel maximizes your business’s exposure. It’s also a place where people intuitively expect to see a design, which means that it can complete the look.
A professional look makes a good impression internally and outside of your business. And with the right placement and sizing, the logo won’t interfere with enhanced visibility. We will ensure that your hi-vis gear meets regulatory requirements regarding fabric color, placement, and length of retroreflective strips.
5. Pick the Right Font and Colors
Create a balanced look with the right font style and colors. Font with a lot of embellishment might look good on paper, but it can be hard to read when placed on a shirt or hoodie. Choose an easy-to-read font that makes words and numerals stand out. This will keep your business name and contact information clear, and it won’t clash with the style of the apparel.
ANSI-approved hi-vis colors are fluorescent yellow-green, fluorescent orange-red, and fluorescent red. If your garment features these colors, black ink will make your design stand out.
SafetyShirtz enhanced visibility clothing comes in a wider range of colors. In many cases, black ink will still look excellent, but other colors can look great too. Let us help you find the right color combination that meets your business needs and promotes your style.
6. Get the Right Sizes
It’s critical for personnel safety and satisfaction that you place an order with the right garment sizes. Proper fit ensures safety gear performance.
Small clothing restricts worker movement and creates discomfort. When workers can’t properly lift or stretch their arms because of tight clothes, the apparel limits what they can accomplish.
When clothing is too large, it becomes a risk to safety as the fabric can snag on equipment or materials. Rolled-up sleeves also make clothing bulkier and increase the chance of snags.
Ill-fitting clothes also look bad and work against the purpose of fashionable safety clothes. When workers feel confident in their safety apparel, they’re more likely to wear it. Giving workers poorly fitting clothes gives personnel a negative impression, and they make your business look less professional to outside perspectives, too.
SafetyShirtz doesn’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to safety clothes. We carry hoodies and shirts from sizes small through 3XL so you can get the right fit for your employees. We’re also expanding our selection of apparel in women’s sizes.
As this buyer’s guide for custom safety apparel shows, there’s a lot to consider when ordering stylish, effective safety clothes. The right performance level, garment type, and fit are critical for worker safety and comfort. And a quality design helps workers look their best, boosting morale and increasing voluntary compliance.
For stylish, high-performance safety T-shirts and hoodies, shop with SafetyShirtz. Our selection of custom hi-vis clothing comes in a range of styles and sizes that are perfect for your workforce. Place your order today!
4 Surprising Things You Didn’t Know About PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) saves lives and lowers the risk of injury. Workers in a range of industries wear PPE to protect their eyes, heads, hearing, bodies, hands, lungs, and feet.
Creating effective safety equipment takes lots of time, effort, and thought. Discover four surprising things you didn’t know about PPE.
1. Proper Fit Is Important
A one-size-fits-all approach limits the efficacy of PPE. Fit is more crucial for some PPE than others. For example, face masks and respirators must form a seal on the face to work properly.
If your body shape changes, get a new size of PPE for proper protection. Even PPE that doesn’t require a perfect fit shouldn’t be excessively small or large. Fitted hi-vis workwear will ensure correct placement of retroreflective material.
2. PPE Is a Point-of-Contact Control
Work sites use two types of safety controls to minimize harm: pre-contact and point-of-contact controls. In pre-contact control, employers use processes including elimination, material substation, and administrative controls to remove hazards before a worker encounters them.
The second safety control type, point-of-contact control, reduces the likelihood of exposure and injury when a hazard is unremovable. PPE is the primary way to provide point-of-contact control. Workplaces should consider PPE an important last line of defense.
3. Employers Must Provide Necessary PPE and Training
Another surprising thing you might not know is that employers must provide necessary PPE and train employees on how to use it correctly. OSHA requires employers to provide PPE to employees when a hazard is present.
Employers must train employees to know when they need the equipment and what kinds are necessary. Personnel learn how to properly put on, adjust, wear, and take off the PPE. They also become familiar with the limits of the safety gear and how to maintain and dispose of it properly.
4. Two Basic Types of Retroreflective Surfaces
Although retroreflective material might look the same at first glance, there are two basic types. Glass bead reflective surfaces use microscopic glass beads to reflect light back to the source. This is the more affordable type, and it reflects light at a wider angle.
The second retroreflective surface is prismatic. Prismatic materials have manufactured prisms that are flat rather than curved and send a more focused beam of reflected light back to the light source.
Dress for work in essential safety gear from SafetyShirtz. Our selection of hi-vis safety shirts features creative designs and quality manufacturing. Shop today for the right fit and style for you.
The Evolution of Construction Personal Protective Equipment
Some of the most common personal protective equipment (PPE) construction workers wear are hard hats and hi-vis safety clothes. Read about the evolution of construction personal protective equipment to understand these two safety gear essentials.
Hard Hat History
Today, construction workers must wear hard hats in areas where falling objects can cause head injuries. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) divides protective helmets into different types and classes to designate impact protection and electrical performance. Construction workers operating near exposed electrical conductors wear hard hats designed to reduce the chance of electrical shock.
The hard hat has evolved since its introduction over a century ago. The Bullard Manufacturing Company, based in San Francisco, California, created the first commercially available industrial head protection. They started manufacturing their product in the late 1800s.
Bullard sold hard hats mainly to miners. In 1919, the company manufactured the Hard Boiled hat made from steamed canvas, glue, and black paint. The hat was trademarked with that name because the manufacturing process used steam. Companies could mount a leather and metal lamp bracket to the front of the hat to hold a miner's lamp.
A construction company created the first designated hard hat area in a U.S. construction job site during the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco from 1933-1937. Falling rivets created a safety hazard. The Bullard company modified their mining helmet, and workers were required to wear hard hats and follow other safety practices to retain employment.
Designers needed to create durable yet lightweight protective headgear. In 1938, Bullard designed and manufactured the first aluminum hard hat. While the hat was light, it conducted electricity, so it was soon replaced by heat-resistant fiberglass. In the 1950s, thermoplastics replaced fiberglass as a superior and cost-effective alternative.
The modern-day standard hat was designed in 1982. The outside shells of today's hard hats typically consist of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polycarbonate resin. These are strong, lightweight materials that fabricators can easily mold, and they do not conduct electricity.
Fluorescent Paint's Origin
High-visibility clothing such as safety vests, shirts, and pants protect construction workers on every job site. The bright, fluorescent color of hi-vis clothes helps workers stand out from their background environment. Key factors in creating hi-vis clothing began with the work of two brothers.
Robert "Bob" Switzer co-invented the first black light fluorescent paint with his brother, Joseph Switzer. In 1933, Bob Switzer was unloading tomatoes from a freight car when he fell and suffered serious injuries, including a skull fracture and a severed optic nerve.
Bob had to recover in a dimly lit environment, and during his recovery, he worked with his brother to investigate fluorescent dyes. He and Joseph searched for fluorescent materials to use in Joseph's amateur magic shows. They used a black light to identify fluorescent compounds in products they found in their father's pharmacy.
After Bob's recovery, the brothers continued experimenting with fluorescent mixtures and eventually produced the first black-light fluorescent paints. They founded Fluor-S-Art Co. in 1934 to develop and market their products for advertising displays.
In 1946, the brothers founded the Day-Glo Color Corp. for fluorescent paints, pigments, and other products. They partnered with Continental Lithograph, a company specializing in movie posters and advertisements, and developed new ways to use fluorescent paints in lithography, makeup, and fabric dyes.
The First Hi-Vis Clothes
Day-Glo paint could make materials shine like they were glowing in daylight. Once they found a stable and safe mixture of Day-Glo, Bob applied it to his wife's wedding dress. The dress became the first hi-vis apparel.
The brothers continued to improve the formula. During WWII, the use of fluorescent pigment for safety grew. The United States Army experienced problems with friendly fire, especially in urban combat zones at night. In the confusion of battle, soldiers would become confused and lose track of the location of their comrades.
The desperate need to reduce injuries and death from friendly fire prompted the U.S. Army to adopt the Switzer brother's invention. The military dipped fabric panels in reflective paint, and military members wore hi-vis fabric while working. Aircraft crew began wearing hi-vis safety vests and pants as they directed planes.
Today, fluorescent fabric is an essential component of high-visibility apparel for construction workers. During the day, the bright color protects workers from collisions with vehicular traffic and heavy moving machinery.
Retroreflective Tape: Glass Beads
While fluorescent fabric enhances visibility in daylight, workers also need increased visibility in low-light conditions, such as at night or in bad weather. The second essential component of hi-vis workwear is retroreflective tape.
Retroreflective material uses tiny glass beads or manufactured prisms to reflect light rather than absorb it. Unlike other reflective materials, retroreflective tape sends the light directly back to the source rather than scattering it. This characteristic is why when someone shines a vehicle's headlights on the material, they see a crisp and stunning glow.
In the 1920s, the popularity of automobiles was growing rapidly, and it became essential to make road signs visible to drivers at night. The first retroreflective signs used large glass beads, but they retroreflected poorly and scattered too much light. In the rain, the glass beads performed even worse.
In the 1940s, 3M developed durable and easy-to-apply retroreflective tape. This new material used micro-sized glass beads fractions of a millimeter wide and reflected light more efficiently. The company applied a metalized layer that made the tape more effective in rain. In addition to application on signs, this product was used on movie screens to make images appear clearer and brighter.
Developing Reflective Prisms
Micro prisms are angled shapes that resemble the corners of a cube. Compared to the round shape of glass beads, micro prisms have a greater percentage of their surface area angled directly toward the light source, which improves reflective capacity.
In the 1970s, the Reflexite corporation began producing micro prism tape. Competing manufacturers began creating their own versions of the highly effective retroreflector. Improvements to retroreflective tape are an important process in the continuing evolution of construction personal protective equipment.
Today, the amount of retroreflective tape and its location on safety apparel is a crucial consideration for classification using ANSI's high visibility standards. Construction personnel working under certain conditions must wear hi-vis workwear that meets specific criteria.
Hi-vis gear protects more effectively now than ever before. SafetyShirtz sells modern high-visibility clothing made with fluorescent fabric, retroreflective tape, and attractive graphic design. Shop today for stylish and essential safety apparel.
5 Common Health Risks on Construction Sites
Construction workers perform physically demanding work to build residential, commercial, institutional, and infrastructural projects. This high-hazard industry requires employers and employees to follow official safety rules and regulations. Discover five common health risks on construction sites and how to protect against them.
1. Struck-By Injuries
Construction sites have moving machinery and pieces of equipment that lift and swing objects around. Personnel working in areas near roadways also contend with passing civilian traffic. Equipment operators and pedestrian workers must stay vigilant around heavy machinery to avoid struck-by incidents, one of the leading causes of construction-related death.
High-visibility work clothes help reduce the risk of struck-by injuries. When workers wear hi-vis garments, other people can see them more easily. Construction workers should wear fluorescent hi-vis apparel for enhanced visibility in daylight with retroreflective material for low-light visibility.
2. Repetitive Vibration
Another common health risk on construction sites is repetitive vibration caused by power tools. Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is a common injury among construction workers. Symptoms of HAVS include tingling and numbness in the fingers, loss of hand strength, loss of finger sensation, and awakening at night with painful hands.
People can get HAVS from handheld power tools, ground working equipment, and vibrating power tools. Anti-vibration (A/V) tools reduce vibration characteristics found in conventional devices. Workers should also wear anti-vibration gloves to protect themselves from developing HAVS.
3. Auditory Damage
Repetitive and excessive noise can cause hearing impairment and even lead to deafness. Power tools and heavy-duty vehicles emit loud sounds that create a cacophonous work environment.
Employers must provide workers with adequate hearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Expandable foam plugs, canal caps, earmuffs, and pre-molded plugs are some types of PPE that can protect against auditory damage.
4. Slips, Trips, and Falls
Slips, trips, and falls are one of the leading causes of construction workplace injuries. Slick walking surfaces, sloped ground, poor lighting, clutter, improper scaffolding, unsafe stairs and ladders, and uncovered cables and wires can cause slips, trips, and falls.
As with other risks at construction sites, employers must conduct risk assessments to identify dangerous factors and determine whether current risk preventions are sufficient for everyone’s safety. Employees should be aware of risks and know how to operate around them. Everyone should keep walking channels clear of debris.
5. Manual Handling
Manually handling materials can lead to muscle and joint injuries. Incorrect positioning and form while lifting and carrying increases a person’s risk of injuries, such as lower back pain, or severe injuries like disc herniation.
Staff should use necessary equipment when possible to safely move heavy objects or to handle items repetitively. When workers must move things manually, employers must ensure everyone knows the proper physical form.
Improve your crew’s safety with custom hi-vis shirts from SafetyShirtz—your team will work more efficiently and securely in these stylish hi-vis clothes. Shop with us today for custom t-shirts and hoodies.
6 Tips for Staying Dry While Working in Wet Conditions
Whether working in the rain or on wet surfaces once the rain has passed, water makes outdoor work more difficult and uncomfortable. Keep yourself dry to stay in the best mental and physical state. Discover six tips for staying dry while working in wet conditions.
1. Wear a Hi-Vis Rain Jacket
High-visibility rain jackets improve your visibility and help to keep your body dry. The bright material will help you stand out from your background environment, and retroreflective tape will make you shine brightly when a light source, such as headlights, shines on the fabric.
Your rain jacket should have a waterproof coating and adjustable hood. Storm flaps protect the jacket’s openings and fasteners to prevent water from going under the coat.
2. Dress in Layers
Consider the temperatures expected throughout your workday and dress in layers. You can get wet inside your rain jacket when body heat forms condensation on the jacket’s inner surface. If you’re working in cooler conditions, consider wearing a polyester fleece mid-layer to prevent condensation from forming inside the rain jacket.
3. Use Waterproof Gloves
Wearing waterproof gloves is another way to stay dry while working in wet conditions. These gloves won’t just protect your hands from water; they also provide a slip-proof grip.
Waterproof high-dexterity gloves enhance comfort and hand mobility. Palm padding can also provide excellent durability and absorb vibrations.
4. Wear Waterproof Footwear
Wet feet can make your workday incredibly miserable. Wear waterproof boots and cushioning socks for comfort and safety. Waterproof boots have slip-resistant outsoles that improve your footing in wet conditions.
5. Consider Boot Gaiters
Water, mud, and debris can enter your waterproof boots, but gaiters cover the tops of your footwear to prevent this problem. Gaiter options include over the ankle, up to the mid-calf, and up to the knees.
6. Wear Goggles
Consider wearing goggles if you’re working in the rain and the water is getting in your eyes. The lenses should have an anti-fog treatment to maintain visibility, whether the goggles are worn for rain protection or as personal protective equipment.
Stay warm, dry, and comfortable in safety hoodies from SafetyShirtz. Bright colors enhance your visibility, and high-quality materials and stitching ensure your apparel holds up and looks great. Shop with us today.
7 Tips for Helping Your Workers Stay Cool in the Heat
Working outside in high temperatures can cause debilitating or even life-threatening illnesses. However, you can prevent conditions such as heat cramps, heat strokes, and heat exhaustion by following the right safety procedures. Keep employees safe with these seven tips for helping your workers stay cool in the heat.
1. Ensure Hydration
Dehydration is a primary contributor to heat exhaustion, so supply workers with fresh, cool, and safe drinking water. Employees should drink water and electrolyte drinks and avoid caffeinated beverages such as coffee and soda.
Also, employees should come to work hydrated. If they come to work dehydrated, they might not be able to give their bodies enough water throughout the day. Furthermore, employees should not wait to feel thirsty to start hydrating during the workday. Even if someone doesn’t notice they’re dehydrated, their physical performance can decline.
When working in the heat, workers can stay hydrated by drinking about 8 ounces of water every 15–20 minutes. However, ensure employees are aware to not drink more than 48 ounces of fluids in an hour. Drinking this much can cause a dangerously low salt concentration in the blood. Finally, workers should drink enough fluids after work to replace what they lost through sweat. It often takes hours for a person to drink enough to rehydrate, so hydrating after work is important for continued health.
2. Encourage Dressing for the Weather
Another tip for helping your workers stay cool in the heat is to ensure they dress for the weather. While workers shouldn’t wear baggy clothes, loose-fitting clothes allow more air to circulate around the body.
Work T-shirts created for warm and hot weather have various features to cool the body. For example, mesh side panels improve ventilation. Moisture-wicking fabric improves sweat evaporation, which cools the skin and releases heat from the body. The body can’t maintain an acceptable, safe temperature if sweat remains on the skin because of humidity.
High-visibility workwear for hot weather can also have these cooling features. And the high-visibility components—bright colors and reflective tape—protect workers during the day and in low-light conditions. Ensure workers wear the right ANSI-rated safety gear for their task and that the material is breathable.
3. Conduct Trainings on Heat-Related Illnesses
Supervisors and workers should receive training regarding heat-related illnesses. At the end of the training, attendees should understand how to avoid heat illness, the signs and symptoms of heat illness, and how to react to heat illness. Heat stress can deteriorate fine motor performance, lead to illness, necessitate hospitalization, or even cause more severe consequences.
Heat-related conditions include the following:
Heat stroke
Heat exhaustion
Heat cramps
Heat rash
Designing a safer work environment to avoid heat illness is essential. But your workplace should also have an emergency plan to deal with heat illness. Communicate the plan to supervisors and workers. The program should detail what to do if someone experiences heat illness, how to contact emergency help, and how to apply the appropriate first aid.
4. Adjust the Work Schedule and Intensity
Employers should encourage workers to work short shifts and take frequent breaks on hotter days. You can do this by rotating workers, splitting shifts, or adding extra workers to a job. Supervisors should advise workers to slow down physical activity, such as by reducing manual handling speeds.
Schedule work for earlier in the day, when possible, but remember that early morning hours tend to have higher humidity levels. Early morning start times can also increase worker fatigue. Reschedule non-essential outdoor work to days with a reduced heat index.
Lastly, don’t expect employees to pace themselves for safe work. Instead, adapt and enforce a work and rest schedule for your worksite. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) shares schedules that detail how many minutes employees should rest and work, depending on the temperature and level of physical activity.
5. Acclimatize Workers
Heat acclimatization is the process of improving a person’s heat tolerance. The best way to acclimate is to gradually increase an employee’s workload in a hot setting. Heat acclimatization reduces heat exposure’s strain on vital organs, improves the body’s sweating performance, and increases worker comfort with doing physical tasks in the heat.
New employees have an elevated risk for heat illness, but all workers must adjust to working in the heat. The acclimatization period takes about one to two weeks. However, people lose acclimatization and return to their baseline after about one week without working in the heat.
For 7 to 14 days, let workers gradually increase their work time. Acclimatization requires at least two hours of heat exposure a day, and you can divide this time into two separate one-hour periods. The body will adjust to the level of work demanded during the acclimatization period. Light or brief physical work prepares the worker for that level of physical activity in the heat. For longer or more strenuous tasks, encourage higher-intensity physical activity during the acclimatization period. Furthermore, workers who are hydrated and nourished with regular meals acclimate better.
6. Enforce Breaks To Cool Off
Ensure workers have access to fully shaded or air-conditioned areas for rest and cooling down. Cool locations include shady areas, air-conditioned vehicles and buildings, nearby tents, and areas with fans and misting devices.
OSHA provides standards for how often and long workers should take rest breaks. Take longer breaks more frequently as heat stress rises. Breaks should be long enough for workers to recover from the heat. Use OSHA’s heat hazard assessment to determine your worksite’s Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which measures heat stress in direct sunlight. Also, use your workplace’s heat-related illness prevention program to engineer safer working conditions.
The worker’s physical activity level and the individual worker’s personal risk factors affect how much time they will need to rest and cool down. Consider these factors and ensure workers do not skip breaks, especially in hot conditions.
Ensuring workers stay hydrated, wear weather-appropriate safety clothes, and know the signs of heat illness keeps them safe. As an employer, minimize workplace risks by engineering a safer environment, creating a mindful schedule, and enforcing resting breaks. With these practices in place, you will create a safer, more productive, and more enjoyable work environment for your employees.
Do you need high-visibility shirts that keep workers comfortable and looking sharp? At SafetyShirtz, we carry a variety of stylish shirts that protect workers in the heat. Shop with us today for quality hi-vis clothing!
5 Mistakes To Avoid With Custom Safety Apparel
Give a quality gift that boosts morale and uses your budget well. Custom safety apparel shows appreciation for your workers and promotes a safer work environment. Learn the five mistakes to avoid with custom safety apparel.
1. Disregarding ANSI Standards
Enhanced visibility and high-visibility clothes protect workers, but hi-vis clothing must meet specific ANSI standards that categorize them into a type and class. Choose the right level of protection based on the worker’s environment and job duties.
Hi-vis clothes must maintain standards even after adding your company’s design. Lettering and logos made with materials not compliant with ANSI standards must not interfere with the retroreflective tape.
2. Considering Lackluster Design
Safety apparel doesn’t have to look boring to do its job effectively. Give your employees enhanced visibility and hi-vis clothes they’re proud to wear.
Unique designs can increase employees’ voluntary compliance with safety clothes standards. Employees feel confident and comfortable in quality hi-vis clothes, and, most importantly, the worksite becomes safer.
3. Purchasing Low-Quality Clothes
Clothing wears down over time, and the retroreflective tape on hi-vis clothes needs to be in good condition to work effectively. Quality clothes last longer, look great, and feel better than poor-quality apparel.
When judging a garment’s manufacturing, consider the materials, stitches and seams, and features that improve fit. For example, shoulder-to-shoulder taping makes stronger seams and enhances the durability of our t-shirts.
4. Ignoring the Back
Another mistake to avoid with custom safety apparel is ignoring the back of the garment. Putting your logo or design on the back of the shirt, hoodie, or vest adds a nice finishing touch. Plus, the back is another opportunity to showcase pride in your business.
At SafetyShirtz, your custom order starts at 48 pieces and will have the same front and back design or print. If you order 126 pieces or more, you can differentiate your order’s front and back designs.
5. Ordering From an Inexperienced Company
Finally, a professional safety apparel company has the knowledge and experience to provide your business with quality, well-designed clothes. Ordering from an inexperienced company increases the likelihood of poorly manufactured apparel, low-quality graphic images, and order delays.
SafetyShirtz is proud to provide stylish and comfortable custom work clothing. Whether you’ve purchased custom safety clothes before or want to place your first order, we will deliver high-quality clothes with your desired design. Please place your order with us today or contact us for more information.
Hi-Vis Accessories To Get for Your Workers
Give your employees hi-vis clothes to promote workplace safety, build team spirit, and celebrate everyone’s hard work. Discover the hi-vis accessories you should get for your workers.
Hats
Hi-vis hats combine the comfort and practicality of ordinary snapback baseball caps with the protection of hi-vis materials. The hat’s sweatband protects the fabric from perspiration damage, improves the hat’s fit, and keeps the wearer comfortable. Mesh side and back panels improve airflow.
The bright neon color of this safety hat improves the wearer’s visibility. A hat with a gray or black front can have fluorescent yellow or fluorescent orange material on the sides and back end. The mixed fabric gives this safety apparel a sleek look.
Employees can adjust their hats with adjustable straps at the back. This adjustability makes it easier for you to order hats that will fit everyone.
T-Shirts
T-shirts are popular hi-vis accessories to get for your workers. ANSI-rated safety shirts have appropriately positioned retroreflective tape that improves visibility in low-light environments. Fluorescent colors improve worker visibility during the day and help your employees stand out from busy backgrounds.
More casual safety shirts still feature bright contrasting colors that enhance visibility. You can even customize your shirt order to include your company logo. Employees will feel comfortable wearing high-quality shirts, and the branding will help spread awareness of your company.
Hoodies
Finally, hi-vis hoodies improve worker safety and comfort in cold working conditions. At SafetyShirtz, we offer a selection of stylish designs that stand out from typical hi-vis clothing. Some of our most popular graphic images include patriotic and topographic designs.
Ribbed cuffs and a ribbed waistband create a more comfortable fit and improve the hoodie’s durability. A double-lined hood provides more warmth, looks better, and lasts longer.
SafetyShirtz is your go-to store for stylish and lasting hi-vis gear. We can create high-quality safety apparel that makes your team proud. Contact us for a custom design on hats, T-shirts, and hoodies.