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ELECTRICAL SAFETY The Power of Choice in AR/FR Clothing Programs Looking to increase employee compliance and comfort? It might be time to leave your “no-choice” program in the past. BY BARBARA FITZGEORGE Even when we recognize a requirement is in our best in- terest, it’s human nature to resist being told what to do. However, when people have options—even when all those options meet specific requirements—they are more likely to comply, be comfortable and be satisfied. The same goes for arc-rated and flame resistant (AR/FR) clothing and PPE pro- grams. Unfortunately, to meet safety requirements as quickly and (seemingly) inexpensively as possible, emwployers often dictate a single AR/FR shirt and pant combination in a single fabric, weight, style and color. This rigid offering is best known as a “no- choice” program, which leads to a variety of issues: ■ Workers not wearing PPE at all or not wearing it properly. ■ Workers not properly maintaining clothing out of resent- ment from lack of choice. ■ Reduced productivity due to discomfort and diminished worker morale. ■ High investment of management’s time in administering and fielding complaints related to the clothing program. Luckily, these problems have a realistic solution that improves compliance, comfort, access to innovation, morale and cost: offer employee-level product choice through a managed AR/FR cloth- ing program. Learn all the benefits companies reap when they put the power of choice in the hands of their employees. Improved Compliance Most employers tend to think offering a single-garment solution is the best way to keep their workers safe. However, this type of no-choice program actually has the opposite effect. Worker com- pliance suffers because employees feel like they have no say in a very personal decision—the clothing they are wearing every day. This can create dangerous gaps in personal safety and potentially costly compliance issues for your company, not to mention com- pliance issues with your company’s brand image standards. On the other hand, when workers get to choose for them- selves from a wide array of fabrics, garments and styles, they have agency—that is, the ability to act on their own behalf. When they are empowered to select the items, order them and have them shipped to their home, psychologically the PPE becomes theirs. As a result, they are much more likely to take pride in the clothing they’ve selected, wear it, wear it properly and take care of it. Enhanced Comfort Another major pitfall of the no-choice approach is that workers aren’t always going to be comfortable in the clothing chosen for them. Next time you’re in a room with a group of people, take note of what everyone is wearing. Even though everyone is ex- posed to the same temperature and humidity, you almost always find people in both short sleeves and long sleeves, natural fibers, synthetic fibers and blends, knit pullovers and woven button-ups and one, two or even three layers. The fact is that what is comfortable for one is not comfort- able for all. Because comfort is subjective—differing from person to person, day to day—there’s simply no way to make everyone happy with a cookie-cutter approach to AR/FR clothing. Workers who are uncomfortable may decide to alter the protective cloth- ing system (rolling up sleeves, taking off protective layers or add- ing non-compliant layers, etc.) or—worse—not wear protective www.ohsonline.com APRIL/MAY 2023 | Occupational Health & Safety 49 Iryna Imago/Shutterstock.com