4 replies to this topic

[Robert Daigneault]

Looking for Best Practices regarding protective clothing for temporary employees.  Permanent workers have uniform service.  Looking for guidance on what others may be doing in a packaging materials converting operation.

 

Appreciate your feedback and support.

[Michelle Grace Astorga]

It will actually depend on your area and the task of employees. Like, do they need gloves (cloth or rubber?), mask, aprons. But generally, a clean garment with any hanging fibers/cloth is safe and sanitary

[GMO]

I take it that permanent workers have uniform (e.g. a coat) which is assigned to them?  Just get some more coats in various sizes which aren't assigned to anyone.  That way, you have the same standards for everyone.  Make sure you order enough, e.g. if you have 7 coat changes available accounting for washing time available for each permanent member of staff and you have 10 temps, you need 70 coats.  Don't be tempted to scrimp on it, the clothing is an important part of food safety.

 

If we run out or have a couple of fire evacuations so run out of normal coats, we do use disposable ones but they're not ideal and when you work out the cost of them, it's actually more economical to have laundered coats instead.

[AlisterW]

We have just renewed our contract with laundry services and have added a few spares to the system for temporary workers. We have a need for several temps during our busy spell and typically have used the disposable jackets for them. As we could potentially have a high turnover, it probably wasn't cost effective to have various sizes sitting in lockers.

 

The option we have taken up with the laundry contractor is to have some of the garments on a 'split rental' system. This means the weekly rent is lower and then we just pay for the washes as required. Might be worth considering for others.

[GMO]

We have just renewed our contract with laundry services and have added a few spares to the system for temporary workers. We have a need for several temps during our busy spell and typically have used the disposable jackets for them. As we could potentially have a high turnover, it probably wasn't cost effective to have various sizes sitting in lockers.

 

The option we have taken up with the laundry contractor is to have some of the garments on a 'split rental' system. This means the weekly rent is lower and then we just pay for the washes as required. Might be worth considering for others.

 

You might be surprised.  It depends on your contract.  If you hire the coats and pay for them week by week whether you use them or not then you're right.  If you own the coats or hire them and only pay when they're cleaned which is sometimes the case, I'd disagree. 

 

Another alternative is some contractors have coats you can hire out for a few months in peak periods then return.  Disposable coats are only just about acceptable as they are a foreign matter risk and don't provide much protection, they're also so expensive.