Water and Wastewater Utility Uniforms

High-visibility jackets and apparel are required for many utility workers. Take the extra step of branding your employee’s high visibility apparel to promote your brand as well as enhance safety and security.

Why Should You Have a Utility Uniform Program?

Utility Uniforms Keep Employees Safe

First and foremost, a uniform program keeps employees safe. A lot of water and wastewater utility workers have a dangerous job working near pumps, with heavy machinery, near traffic, etc.  High-visibility, reflective uniforms keep your people safer in high-risk situations. This is also critical for safety compliance.

Visibility is one key component of their safety, but you can also keep them safe by providing them with flame-resistant uniforms. A risk management assessment is essential to determine the level of protection needed for every position, but especially when flame or arc flash exposure is a possibility on the job.

Promote Your Brand with a Uniform Program

Uniforms help promote your water utility brand. When your employees wear a uniform, they have your logo and colors wherever they go. This easily promotes your utility brand to the public and to potential employees.

Employees are also community members. They’re an extension of your utility that reaches into the community. So, after work when they go to the grocery store or their kids’ games still wearing their work gear, they’re representing you and letting people know they’re proud to be a part of your company.

The employees can also help differentiate your brand from others. Essentially, they’re a walking billboard for your utility company. Your cost for their uniforms promotes your utility service without having to pay for extra advertising.

Uniforms Enhance Security

A well-maintained uniform policy also enhances the security within your facility. You can be sure the people walking around your facility or jobsite belong by enforcing a uniform policy. Properly uniformed employees are easily identifiable when working in a specific area of the water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Create and Improve Culture with Utility Uniforms

A good uniform management program promotes positive company culture. The uniform items, especially when they’re attractive and comfortable, give a sense of pride and belonging to the company. This will improve your employees’ morale, increase productivity, and reduce absenteeism.

Take Care of Your Utility Employees

A properly managed uniform policy also helps employees financially and keeps them looking professional. They don’t have to worry about damaging their personal clothing while on the job and replacing it on their own. Providing uniforms ensures they have the correct items so they can better focus on their work rather than their clothes being acceptable or meeting safety regulations.

Utility Company Brand Benefits

You are used to matching your logo and other brand elements on marketing materials, your letterhead, and sponsorships. A uniform should also be part of your brand strategy.

With a wide range of uniform options available, you can find apparel items that match or compliment your brand colors. Unitec’s in-house customization services allow you embellish your logo onto the approved uniform apparel items prior to employee distribution.

With everything working together, customers and partners will easily recognize your brand.

Branding: Water and Wastewater Utility Uniforms 

You may wonder exactly why a water utility should care about its brand. After all, it’s a necessary service and most people take it for granted.

A brand boosts your reputation with consumers and partners. This in turn will give your utility a positive reputation. People will recognize your company, and you’ll have talented employees asking to work for you.

This all leads back to a positive brand. People are more willing to work with employees in a professional uniform, especially in the service industries such as water and wastewater utilities.

There’s no doubt that effective brands lead to trust. A company with a solid brand will retain customers who trust them. Six important factors that influence brand trust:

• Customer focus
• Communication effectiveness
• Company reputation and advocacy
• Reliable quality
• Community support
• Environmental dedication

It’s hard to believe that uniforms can affect all of these factors, but it’s true. A good uniform will give employees a sense of pride for their utility company and employer. This will in turn lead to more employee self-confidence and improved customer-focused service with better communication.

Uniform Management Program for Water Utilities

Purchasing uniforms for your employees involves more than just heading down to a department store and picking up some t-shirts or ordering items online in bulk. It involves inventory control, order processing, uniform customization, and much more. Working with a trusted uniform distributor to setup a managed uniform program is a much easier and cost-effective solution for your team. This ensures that all staff members have the correct apparel with your logo and colors while staying within your uniform budget.

A quality uniform management program assigns a spending account to each employee. This allows your staff to order their uniforms in a controlled environment while maintaining your budget. As an extra level of control, you can setup the program so managers approve orders before they are submitted for processing.

There’s also the catalog approach, which provides your staff with options. You select all the apparel you want to offer for each position and employees choose which items are preferred. This allows employees the freedom of shopping for the items they need instead of a standard issuance of uniforms they may not fully utilize.

A superior uniform management system allows management to easily run reports and is backed by an industry-leading customer service team.

Popular Water and Wastewater Utility Uniform Items

Bibs and Coveralls

Bibs and coveralls are essential for water and wastewater utility workers. They provide a protective covering over uniform shirts and pants while providing multiple storage pockets to keep tools handy.

Compared to coveralls, bibs provide a greater range of movement and airflow around the torso. Depending on the requirements of the job, you may elect to give your employees the choice between a bib or coveralls. Our Proximity System allows you to make the choice easy for employees without extra work for your team.

Purchase Water and Wastewater Utility Uniforms

Water and wastewater utility uniforms do so much more than provide your employees with a shirt or two. They enhance the security and safety of your team as well as reduce employee costs for clothing, boost your utility brand, and give your company a positive face in the community.

Do you need uniforms and a uniform management system? If so, contact us! We can help you find the uniforms you need and set up a managed uniform program for your utility company today.

Still not sure if a managed uniform program is right for you?