If your business is currently investing in the purchase of PPE and workwear while paying for laundry services separately, you may find that moving to a combined rental and laundry contract offers better value. Rental options such as those provided by Elis can help companies to control budgets, with no up-front purchasing costs and a host of additional benefits.
Expert advice
Whatever industry you operate in, Elis can advise on choosing the right garments for the task in hand. The company supplies workwear and PPE for a wide range of sectors, and its range includes basic essentials through to highly functional and specialised items for bespoke applications.
Designed with safety and hygiene in mind, Elis garments are tough and durable…without compromising on comfort. They are also compliant with relevant industry standards. Providing employees with the correct workwear and PPE can help to maximise safety, protecting them from hazards in industrial environments and ensuring optimum levels of hygiene in sectors such as food production.
However, Elis estimates that around 60 per cent of businesses which provide their employees with workwear are using at least some items that do not provide adequate protection or may not be compliant with the relevant legislation. In many cases, PPE is not worn correctly due to being oversized or fitting inadequately. At Elis, this is taken care of by our measuring teams as part of the on-boarding process, helping to ensure that the PPE is a perfect fit for the wearer.
Reputable suppliers can offer advice on choosing the right products for the right application, so it is always worth checking that any workwear items specified meet the required standards for a particular
sector, activity or process. Elis, for example, has in-house PPE expertise and also supplies safety compliant garments for the food production, construction and chemical industries as well as workwear for catering and hospitality.
Stringent washing processes
It is important to ensure that wash processes for workwear and PPE are delivering an appropriate standard of cleaning and hygiene. Factors such as a build-up of oil on workwear could turn it into more of a hazard than a protection. In addition, washing high-visibility items incorrectly could make them less visible, while inadequate laundry practices could result in sub-standard hygiene levels for food production and catering workwear.
A professionally managed laundry service such as that provide by Elis uses industrial equipment with carefully monitored programmes and processes to ensure that any reprocessed items are fully compliant with the relevant standards and regulations for each sector.
Ongoing garment maintenance
Regularly inspecting garments and carrying out repairs and maintenance where appropriate can be time-consuming, but plays an important role in ensuring that workwear remains fit-for-purpose and offers adequate protection throughout its lifecycle. Holes and tears in fabric, for instance, can leave skin exposed and could be at risk of catching on machinery or tools.
A maintenance service can be provided as part of a professional workwear laundry package, so any necessary repairs are undertaken automatically as part of the reprocessing cycle. This can help to minimise workwear risk and enhance its longevity, offering a more cost effective and sustainable, circular economy solution.
A more streamlined, efficient and responsive solution
As well as the fact that there are no upfront purchasing costs, switching to a combined rental and laundry service, rather than buying workwear and paying for laundry services separately, can have other advantages when it comes to keeping finances under control.
When carrying out cost analysis, businesses should also consider how the workwear is managed when there is a change in staff. In cases where businesses buy in garments and pay for laundry services separately, this may require the purchase of new sets of items at additional cost.
A rental contract, however, means that workwear can easily be swapped to meet requirements – e.g. different sizing – when new employees are appointed, ensuring they have the most appropriate garments and the best fit. RFID tags and bar codes on individual items also help to ensure that businesses are supplied with the right type and amount of workwear at all times, helping to minimise lost stock and improve efficiency.
With over 100 years’ experience in providing high quality workwear solutions, Elis is Europe’s market leader in textile and laundry services. It supplies thousands of businesses across the UK, advising them on the most appropriate items, supplying the garments and regularly laundering and maintaining them from over 30 processing sites across the country. For more information, please visit www.uk.elis.com or call 0808 169 8265.
