When a company provides workwear to its employees, a number of considerations need to be balanced. Ensuring that the garment is suited to the work environment is obviously the main consideration, but other important elements include the employee’s comfort and its durability for the laundering process.

“We like to spend a good deal of time with clients to make sure their workwear is fit for purpose,” says Carl Gibbins, Divisional Director at First Garment Rental, one of the Bidvest Laundry Group companies. “It’s all part of giving our clients a turnkey garment and laundry solution that really delivers value,” he adds.

Mr Gibbins says that the first thing is to understand the working environment, as this will affect the type of fabric chosen. While First Garment Rental has a wide range of standard poly-cottons and cottons in various colours, some environments such as pharmaceuticals, medical and automotive manufacturing require lint-free, anti-static or antibacterial fabric. These particular fabrics can be laundered through the company's clean room facility.

Mr Gibbins and his team need to understand the requirements of the industry in which the client operates to ensure that the garment design is practical. They will assess the environment, ensure wearability and comfort while ensuring that the right product is selected from a design, weight and protectiveness perspective. A small example: in the food-preparation industry, inside pockets are preferred because there is a risk of contamination if something falls out of the pocket into the food.

“We’re very flexible in our approach—what we’re after is developing a solution that is customised for our client,” Mr Gibbins says.

First Garment Rental is also using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for an increasing number of its blue chip clients. RFID tags are sewn into each garment and allow it to be tracked through the whole process, from issuing to the employee, return for laundering and then through the laundering and ironing process to eventual re-issue. At each “milestone” in the process, a scanner picks up the tag via the impulse it emits, allowing each individual garment to be tracked with a clear audit trail.

Clients, in fact, are starting to use the system to complement their time-and-attendance systems because each garment is issued to a unique individual, often based on biometric information (for example, a thumbprint). The RFID tagging allows First Garment Rental to create accurate reports of how long each garment remains in use, what repairs have been done and generally manage stock more effectively. The performance of each type of fabric can also be monitored to refine the design choices.

“The RFID tagging is also playing a key role for clients who need to provide auditable evidence that certain hygiene standards are being met when it comes to food preparation in particular,” Mr Gibbins says. “We can provide an audit trail to show that frequency with which garments are laundered is in accordance with the guidelines for hygiene safety that our client must meet. “It’s all part of providing a total service to our clients,” concludes Mr Gibbins.