Thursday, November 3, 2011

Think About Comfort When Selecting Workwear

Comfort is not always at the top of the list when it comes to mandatory attributes for uniforms and workwear. Safe, high-performance, long-lasting, sure, but comfortable? According to studies conducted at Hohenstein Institute, comfort should be a high priority, particularly for people in situations where concentration and reaction time are critical factors for safety and effectiveness.

Hohenstein researchers have developed a method to measure reaction time, concentration levels and error rates for people wearing different kinds of clothing in test scenarios requiring long-term, intense concentration. “Findings indicate a strong correlation between the test subjects’ performance and their clothing,” the Institute reports. “People wearing comfortable clothing performed considerably better on the tests. While comfort has always been a key consideration in athletic clothing design, these data confirm that the application to uniform and workwear design is extremely relevant, especially for people in the military, aviation, high-tech manufacturing, transportation, medicine, public safety, and other stressful and concentration-intensive occupations.”

Do you consider comfort when selecting protective clothing?