4 Reasons to brand your PPE and workwear.

It may be easy to dismiss the idea of branding your PPE and workwear as an unnecessary inconvenience or expense. But many companies go out of their way to make sure their logo is highly visible on workers' clothing, and for good reasons - because they never underestimate the power of their brand and the impact it has on those who wear it or see it.

Here are 4 key reasons why your organisation should brand your PPE and corporate workwear.

1. Brand Awareness

Branding works well for customer-facing employees. If your workers regularly meet your customers, then it makes sense to have your workwear properly branded. It offers a more professional image and helps others to quickly identify who your people are and the company they’re from. Branding presents a great marketing opportunity. If others see your people doing their jobs well, and can easily identify the company for which they work, it could lead to further work for your business.

2. Pride

There's a lot to be said for the sense of pride many workers feel when wearing properly branded workwear over generic workwear. It gives people true responsibility in representing your organisation, which can lead to higher morale, camaraderie between employees and increased motivation.

3. Compliance

Branding eases worker identification and aids compliance. In many industries, people from different organisations work on the same site. If employees are wearing branded clothing, it's easier for them or others to quickly spot a member of a particular team. It also helps from a compliance perspective – a site manager can identify workers from different companies and determine whether they’re wearing the right PPE and complying with the right regulations.

4. Embedding a Culture of Safety

Businesses who keep their employees safe have every right to make it known. Branded PPE with special logos that promote pride in safety, shows everyone - clients, employees and potential employees, other businesses and members of the public - that your organisation is serious about safety.

Blu-3 has recently introduced a new S.A.F.E. logo on their PPE to promote awareness of S.A.F.E. a bespoke behavioural safety programme that the company has introduced to help influence the choices made by their workforce, reinforcing management’s commitment to safe working practices. Having the logo on their garments is a visual reminder of the programme, which will influence how employees behave, choosing to work safely.

 So what styles of branding are there? Two main branding options for PPE and workwear are embroidery – whereby your logo is stitched onto a garment - and heat seal transfer printing. A number of factors will influence the type of branding you choose.

Embroidery

This should only be used on non-waterproof garments because the stitching punctures the fabric, which compromises the waterproofing. It also takes longer than printing. However, embroidery is strong and resilient, lasting the life of the garment and sustaining industrial washing. It looks very smart and is a great solution for branding garments with smaller logos.

Heat seal transfer printing

This is suitable for printing logos on virtually any fabric, including high visibility waterproofs and jackets. The process is faster and more cost effective than embroidery.

Before your marketing team gets the idea underway, ensure they know the do's and don'ts for branding PPE and corporate wear. Or, if you'd like to speak to someone about branding your PPE, give us a call at Anchor Safety on 0800 328 5028.