Laing O’Rourke is introducing new corporate workwear for its employees, designed to offer improved fit, functionality and comfort.
Laing O’Rourke employees are being supplied their own ‘kit bag’, including high visibility red polo shirts, softshell jackets and charcoal grey cargo trousers.
George Mosey, head of health and safety for Laing O’Rourke Europe, explained: “Construction industry workwear has suffered from a lack of investment for decades and consequently lags behind other professions. We wanted to completely turn that around by developing a range of workwear that supports our ‘Trades to Technician’s’ agenda. The move from trades to technicians is fundamental to safer and healthier modern methods of construction. This new workwear will also underpin our new inclusion and wellbeing health and safety programme, which has recently been launched in the Europe Hub.
He added: “The new look will certainly make Laing O’Rourke’s sites stand out against other more traditional projects, with hi vis red polo shirts and softshell jackets replacing the more commonplace hi vis fluorescent safety vests teamed with jeans or jogging bottoms and t-shirts and sweatshirts.
“The new workwear has been designed to comply with PPE standards and to be suitable for all conditions; with UV properties in the fabrics for the height of summer to layers for warmth and waterproof protection during bad weather. All items are designed to make everyone; women and men; feel comfortable, safe, smart and most importantly included.”
Laing O’Rourke commissioned London based Jermyn Street Design (jSD), which has created uniforms for Eurostar, Dyson, Ocado and Jet2. The designers took their inspiration from Formula 1 pit crews rather than the usual building site workwear.
It was important to Laing O’Rourke that the women’s uniforms were specifically designed for women and not just an adaptation of the men’s clothing. “For example, the trousers were designed to fit a female shape and leg length, and graded into female sizes,” said head of procurements Carol Williams. “Importantly, the pockets (designed to carry necessary tools) are the same size in the ladies’ range as they are in the men’s. Moreover, the range is not yet complete – with Laing O’Rourke planning to introduce a maternity range in the future.”
The process involved extensive testing. Six wearer trials were conducted across several locations with more than 50 guinea pigs in multiple roles, giving the people who would use the workwear the opportunity to inform the design process. Employees were given different versions to test, with different lengths of sleeves or trousers, and even a choice of two different collar style, and the most popular was adopted in each instance. The trial sessions were videoed with the footage shared with colleagues to build engagement and awareness that wearer wellbeing and inclusion was being built into the range, with every item based on wearer feedback.
George Mosey concluded: “We are very excited to see how our employees, customers and the general public react to our new look across our construction sites.”
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