A poor fitting uniform is dangerous for the person wearing it and the employees working around them. Not only do poor fitting uniforms make accidents more likely, but they also negatively affect productivity. 

Here’s how:

Snags, Pinches, and Drops: Oversized Uniform Dangers

When working in a labor-intensive job like construction or industrial assembly, danger is around every corner. Between the machinery and constant activity, any distraction or variable could lead to disaster. Oversized uniforms are both. They are a distraction because they require constant adjustments (regularly pulling sleeves or pants up), and a variable because they have a tendency to catch. 

In most cases, a caught oversized sleeve is an annoying obstacle. In other cases, as when working with large machinery with many moving, powerful parts, it can be disastrous. As a result, oversized uniforms can easily make a routine situation dangerous, and all it takes is a snag. 

Squeeze, Restriction, and Discomfort: Undersized Uniform Dangers

Though undersized uniforms are less likely to get caught in machinery, they carry their own risks and dangers. Your employees need to have free range of movement to not only protect themselves when necessary, but to also be productive. If a tight uniform keeps an employee from being able to lift their arms over their head, that could be problematic. If they can’t turn around without resistance from their shirt, that could be dangerous. 

Anything that restricts freedom of movement can have in-the-moment consequences, but also long-term ramifications. If pants that are too tight are worn for too long, they can cause a condition known as meralgia paresthetica. Aside from nerve damage, clothing that’s too tight can restrict blood flow and possibly damage veins and the tissues they feed. 

Overheating

For outdoor, labor-intensive jobs, it’s not just tightness or looseness of clothing that affects their wearers. When the wrong materials are used for strenuous work, the impact it has on employees is significant. In a study published by Industrial Health Journal, it was found that wearing a work uniform promotes well being and limits the “perceptual stain of the job.” 

Because a uniform can be designed for a specific purpose (comfort and heat dispersal) and use the best materials to achieve that purpose, there’s a psychological benefit to making them available to your employees. Because professionally-made uniforms improve comfort, they make the job seem less strenuous. This improves productivity, energy, and job satisfaction. 

How Do You Get Quality, Properly Fitting Uniforms?

The benefits of professional, fitted uniforms for your workforce are clear, but the costs and logistics of having them can be intimidating. There’s the matter of finding the right store that has the right materials in the sizes needed, getting them fitted, and maintaining them. Then there is endless cleaning, monitoring, resizing, and  adjusting for staffing changes. It’s easily a thousands-of-dollars operation with expenses and required time stretching endlessly into the future. 

But, there is another option.

Hire a Professional Uniform Service Like American Wear

With no big start-up expenses and all the details (fitting, cleaning, monitoring) handled for you, there’s little reason to outfit your employees any other way. When you go with American Wear, you’re going with 60 years of professional uniform management experience. Avoid poor fitting uniforms today!

For more information, give us a call at (973) 414-9200, visit our website, or request a free quote for service.