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Phil
Phil
Company Uniforms: Ya or Nay?
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Jeff
Jeff
BlackenedTimber
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I am all for uniforms (shirts, jeans, boots) and ball caps - t-shirts and ball caps are a great way to increase your visibility- give em away to your clients, vendors, etc- as others have mentioned. However, there is no excuse or justification for working without the appropriate PPE. I often hate a hardhat, logging helmet, or climbing helmet-BUT a ballcap wont keep your brain from turning into mush if something heavy wacks you in the skull.
I say get the uniforms, but get some hardhats also. Safety is just as much a factor in a professional appearance as uniforms.
I think Bullard Ratchet Suspension Hard Hats are about 10 bucks apiece, and you can have them monogrammed with your company logo for another 3-5 bucks each.
And I have climbed palms before, so I feel your pain, but you gotta protect your noggin bro.
I say get the uniforms, but get some hardhats also. Safety is just as much a factor in a professional appearance as uniforms.
I think Bullard Ratchet Suspension Hard Hats are about 10 bucks apiece, and you can have them monogrammed with your company logo for another 3-5 bucks each.
And I have climbed palms before, so I feel your pain, but you gotta protect your noggin bro.
md_tree_dood
ArboristSite Operative
I am always amazed that guys wear jeans to do tree work. I wore jeans for about a week and then gave up on them, too hot in the summer, when the get wet they weigh 5x their dry weight, and they don't move at all.
As far as the original post. Uniforms make a huge difference in presentation to your clients and more importantly the people who see your good looking staff and call you to do work for them!!!!
As far as the original post. Uniforms make a huge difference in presentation to your clients and more importantly the people who see your good looking staff and call you to do work for them!!!!
Agreed...and maybe that is a new thread, but since you brought it up, what do you wear for your uniform bottoms?
We all get t shirts and most people are supplied with slash pants (everybody runs a saw from time to time). We looked into getting uniforms that were washed, but the supplier who we talked to couldn't supply shirts big enough so we just go more t shirts.
However, given that we spend half our time in raingear, it would be nice if we got that supplied, instead of the mish mash of raingear types in use now.
However, given that we spend half our time in raingear, it would be nice if we got that supplied, instead of the mish mash of raingear types in use now.
We spend about 2k per year supplying each guy with full uniform and PPE. From hardhats to boots; winter and rain gear, heavy socks, gloves, traffic vests, the whole package for everyone. When the crews step out of the truck they have instant respect based just on profession appearance.
Pants are full length, shirts are button up with two pockets with flaps. Each person has the company name and their name embroidered on the shirts. Pants are navy blue and shirts are khaki. Boots are black or brown. Hardhats are white for crew leader and yellow for everyone else.
Being the company everyone wants to work for has helped us keep the very best. They get paid more than average, but they work hard and earn every penny of it.
Mr. HE
Pants are full length, shirts are button up with two pockets with flaps. Each person has the company name and their name embroidered on the shirts. Pants are navy blue and shirts are khaki. Boots are black or brown. Hardhats are white for crew leader and yellow for everyone else.
Being the company everyone wants to work for has helped us keep the very best. They get paid more than average, but they work hard and earn every penny of it.
Mr. HE
outofmytree
Addicted to ArboristSite
We spend about 2k per year supplying each guy with full uniform and PPE. From hardhats to boots; winter and rain gear, heavy socks, gloves, traffic vests, the whole package for everyone. When the crews step out of the truck they have instant respect based just on profession appearance.
Pants are full length, shirts are button up with two pockets with flaps. Each person has the company name and their name embroidered on the shirts. Pants are navy blue and shirts are khaki. Boots are black or brown. Hardhats are white for crew leader and yellow for everyone else.
Being the company everyone wants to work for has helped us keep the very best. They get paid more than average, but they work hard and earn every penny of it.
Mr. HE
:agree2: We use an almost identical system but with our own company colours. The long sleeve cotton shirts weren't popular to start with but after a skin cancer scare and a few Phoenix palms the crew had a 180 degree change of opinion.
It is compulsory for employers here to supply PPE but I would supply it anyway. Couple of grand a years sure beats the price of bandages and higher workers comp premiums.
FTA I prune palms regularly. Mostly Cocos(Queen), Washingtonia and Phoenix palms. We wear these hardhats with no brims.
With the amount of loose fibre in the head of a Cocos(queen) palm it is really really easy to have your 200t snatched from your control. Put the hard hat on mate.
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
It depends on the image you want to project. Highly professional service provider? The get some nice shirts and require that they have sturdy work pants on the job. Nothing with the knees out, no cammo....
Job Corps Tree
ArboristSite Operative
I would say Yes, most places you may only need TShirts If the guys have good Boots and Blue jeans colder places give a good coat for Winter
beowulf343
Addicted to ArboristSite
Lol, i've never climbed without jeans.
"Nay" on the company uniforms for me. Too may times the company uniform seems designed by someone who has never worked outside in a physical job in extreme temps. When it gets cold, I'm gonna use the company windbreaker and slacks for toilet paper and dig out the carhartts. If the company is more concerned over whether i'm wearing the uniform rather than whether i can get the job done, it's time to move on.
mckeetree
Addicted to ArboristSite
I had to "move a guy on" today. Sometimes it's tough being the boss.
beowulf343
Addicted to ArboristSite
So, experience means nothing if the climber doesn't show up in the company clothes?
I see some things haven't changed around here.
gr8scott72
Addicted to ArboristSite
He didn't mention why he sent the guy packing.
The other thing that doesn't change around here is jumping to conclusions.
oldirty
Addicted to ArboristSite
stick around brother. youve got some good stuff to share with these guys. dont let the uniforms rile you up. lol.
good to see you here.
show this gentleman the propers fellas. not only he fulltime but he topdog in his pound.
stay safe.
A guy with a class" A" drivers license came at a good time once. He had piercing galore. He was a good guy and I wanted to hire him so I told him that all the stuff on his face and ears was not acceptable on the job, and he said he would not change for anyone and that I am discriminating. I tried to explain to him what could happen as he would be also dragging brush and chipping and he said "I don't change for no-one!!!". Wonder.
Jeff
Jeff
mckeetree
Addicted to ArboristSite
We wear uniform shirts but he hadn't even got his yet. This guy called looking for a job and tells us he has his own deal going but are you hiring. I ask him if he has own "deal' going why is he looking for a job and he says he just wants to see what we pay a top climber. Anyway, he drives over here from Lufkin, Texas and we end up hiring him. Yesterday he refused to wear a hardhat and today he starts in about his pay so I decided to cut him loose.
beowulf343
Addicted to ArboristSite
Sorry Mckee, didn't mean to jump on you like that. But this has always been a touchy subject for me. Not because I'm worried about losing my originality and just becoming another part of the machine, but because this seems to lead too often to "judging a book by it's cover." I just spent a year climbing for several different outfits out west and the first thing I heard every first day was "you're pretty big to be a climber, ain't you?" No thought of my experience, just going by what I looked like. Same with uniforms. Just because a bunch of guys show up looking professional, doesn't make them professional.
I wonder as a group if we are more concerned about how we look whether than how well we do the job. Not saying every sharp climber is bad or every scumbag is a genius. But it just seems like it makes it too easy too pull the wool over customers 'eyes to me.
Of course, I'm probably way off base on this, but just like throwing out my different opinion.
For the record, I show up to work every day in clean jeans, button up work shirt, ball cap, suspenders, and my wescos.
I wonder as a group if we are more concerned about how we look whether than how well we do the job. Not saying every sharp climber is bad or every scumbag is a genius. But it just seems like it makes it too easy too pull the wool over customers 'eyes to me.
Of course, I'm probably way off base on this, but just like throwing out my different opinion.
For the record, I show up to work every day in clean jeans, button up work shirt, ball cap, suspenders, and my wescos.
We've never been real rigid about uniforms. PPE I can be a real tyrant over, it has saved me real pain in the past and I've seen it save many others.
The climbers are allowed to wear their own pants and shirts as long as they decent looking and close to the uniform colors. If they've found something that works well we look into providing it for them.
Mostly we look at a uniform as a way to give the guys a raise without sending as much money to uncle sam. This work wears clothes out fast. If your guys are paying for that themselves then their real take-home pay is less.
FWIW I don't look down on companies without a uniform. There are some top notch outfits that don't have them. It can be a marketing tool though; your competition shouldn't judge how you look, but the homeowners often do.
Mr. HE
The climbers are allowed to wear their own pants and shirts as long as they decent looking and close to the uniform colors. If they've found something that works well we look into providing it for them.
Mostly we look at a uniform as a way to give the guys a raise without sending as much money to uncle sam. This work wears clothes out fast. If your guys are paying for that themselves then their real take-home pay is less.
FWIW I don't look down on companies without a uniform. There are some top notch outfits that don't have them. It can be a marketing tool though; your competition shouldn't judge how you look, but the homeowners often do.
Mr. HE
Curlycherry1
Addicted to ArboristSite
I worked for a roofing company that provided uniforms that were cleaned by the service. How the heck they got tar out of those clothes amazes me still to this day. We would do a flat roof and we would be speckled with tar from head to toe. Drop them in the laundry bin and a week later there they were, back on the rack looking like brand new.
The guy we worked for did it to stop us from beyotching about tar ruining our clothes. He said any money spent to shut us up was well spent!
The guy we worked for did it to stop us from beyotching about tar ruining our clothes. He said any money spent to shut us up was well spent!
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