Before your next shift, take a closer look at the workwear you reach for every day. The zipper may still close and the pockets may still hold your tools, but those familiar coveralls deserve more than a quick glance.
For workers and purchasing teams, the useful question is whether each garment is still suitable for its wearer and the work ahead. These five checks can help you spot problems, report them clearly, and plan replacements before you are left without suitable gear.
Use these checks alongside your employer’s PPE inspection procedure and the garment manufacturer’s instructions.
1. Dirt and fading have changed the garment’s appearance
Is the original bright fabric now difficult to distinguish beneath grime? Are stains covering the reflective bands? CCOHS advises keeping high-visibility apparel clean and replacing garments whose wear, soiling, or contamination prevents acceptable visibility.
Source: CCOHS high-visibility apparel guidance
Follow the garment’s approved cleaning instructions, then reassess its condition. Report persistent staining or obvious fading to the person responsible for PPE. A photograph can help explain what has changed, but it cannot confirm that a garment still meets its performance requirements.
For crew managers, consider keeping suitable clean spares in the sizes your team actually wears. That gives workers a practical option while a dirty garment is being cleaned or reviewed.
2. Reflective bands are cracked or peeling
Look closely at the reflective bands, especially where the garment bends or rubs during work. Cracks, peeling edges, or missing material are reasons to take it out of use for assessment under your workplace procedure.
Retroreflective material returns incoming light towards its source, helping a wearer become more visible when illuminated. Its performance and useful life depend on use, cleaning, maintenance, and environmental conditions, as 3M explains in its reflective-material guidance.
Source: 3M reflective material technical data
Do not treat a phone photo or flashlight check as proof of compliance. If the bands are damaged, ask whether the manufacturer permits an appropriate repair or whether replacement is required. Avoid covering the damage with ordinary adhesive tape.
3. Seams or fasteners no longer work properly
An open seam or unreliable zipper is easy to postpone dealing with when the rest of a garment looks usable. Make it part of the inspection instead. Check the fabric, closures, and areas that receive repeated wear, and record the defect before the garment returns to the rack.
Give the person reviewing the garment useful details: where the damage is, whether the closure works, and which product is affected. Keep the manufacturer’s care and repair information available so the decision does not depend on memory.
For flame-resistant or arc-rated clothing, use the manufacturer’s specific repair instructions. A repair needs to preserve the protection required for the task. If that cannot be confirmed, arrange an appropriate replacement before the next exposure.
4. The fit no longer works with your layers
Try the garment with the layers you intend to wear underneath it. CCOHS recommends a fit that stays correctly positioned during work and allows for additional clothing, with high-visibility material unobstructed by other equipment.
Source: CCOHS high-visibility apparel guidance
In a safe changing area, reach and bend through normal work movements. Does the garment pull uncomfortably? Can it fasten as intended? Bring fit problems to your supervisor before heading into the work area.
When ordering replacements, record the wearer’s fit needs as well as the size printed on the old garment. Sew-Right’s Atlas non-FR hi-vis coveralls, for example, list regular and tall torso options. That is a useful detail to review when a standard fit is not working.
Source: Atlas non-FR hi-vis coveralls
5. Your job now requires different protection
A garment can be in good condition and still be unsuitable for a new assignment. Changes in traffic exposure, lighting, or heat and flame hazards should prompt a review of the workplace hazard assessment and required PPE.
Source: CCOHS high-visibility apparel guidance
Read the product specification rather than judging protection by colour or reflective stripes. Sew-Right lists Atlas Poly/Cotton Non-FR Hi-Vis Coveralls and separate Atlas FR/AR Coveralls with flame-resistant and arc-rated specifications. The shared hi-vis appearance does not make their protective properties interchangeable.
Source: Atlas non-FR hi-vis coveralls | Atlas FR/AR coveralls
Before reordering the same item, confirm the required protection with the person responsible for workplace safety. Give your supplier those requirements, along with sizing and layering needs, so the replacement can be checked against the actual task.
Make inspection part of getting ready for work. A simple record of the garment, wearer, issue, and action taken can make replacement planning easier and help prevent a rejected item from quietly returning to use.
At International Sew-Right, our online range includes non-FR hi-vis coveralls and FR/arc-rated options. Explore the specifications and request a quote at safetyclothing.com with your team’s workwear requirements.
Source: Atlas non-FR hi-vis coveralls | Atlas FR/AR coveralls