There is a lot riding on your personal protective equipment (PPE) purchases for your team. No matter what sector you are in, manufacturing, construction or industrial work, your team requires safety gear. Purchasing the wrong kind, or the cheap kind in hopes to cut a few pennies, could end up costing you thousands more in worker injuries, workers comp, and medical bills.

Save yourself thousands by finding a partner in safety solutions. A partner that holds the wellbeing and safety of your team at the core of all decisions. A partner who is not trying to make a buck, but help you outfit your crew in everything they need without overselling you.

Finding a safety solution partner isn’t easy, but there are five key factors to look for.

1. Locally Owned and Operated

Finding a PPE supplier who is locally owned and operated has some big advantages. Unlike a large, national chain, locally owned businesses have to rely on their reputation. Without a huge advertising budget, word of mouth and customer satisfaction is a large part of a local business’s reputation. Good reviews and repeat clients cannot be bought. A highly rated, local PPE supplier is a great indication that they know how to provide advice, suggestions and quality products.

Locally owned suppliers also offer you the chance to head into the store and look, feel and test the equipment before making a bulk purchase.

2. Quick Delivery

Being able to ensure a quick delivery of products goes along with being local. Forgot to order another box of gloves? Safety glasses got tossed out by accident? Local businesses can offer a quick and fast replacement and being down the street makes deliveries quick and easy.

3. Personal and Customized Service

Many national supplies and chains have sales quotes that need to be met, meaning they will be trying to sell you whatever is most expensive, regardless of your actual needs. Working with a local provider who actually partners with you means they have no sales quota, they only have a list of questions about your worker’s environments.

Local PPE partners can provide you with a safety site audit, where they come to you, assess your worksite and offer solutions based on exactly what your working condition requires.

Any good PPE provider worth their weight will have case studies and examples of how they were able to customize solutions to help their clients and also save them money in the process.

4. Competitively Priced

These customized solutions often have a pricey connotation, however, most companies that choose to work with a local supplier save money in the end. The price of the actual product is only on factor to consider when choosing your supplier.

  • Consider shipping costs (which is often drastically reduced to nothing when your supplier is down the street)
  • Consider the cost of a product not fitting right and needing to be returned (not just a waste of money but time)
  • Consider the cost of choosing a cheaper, lesser quality product (that costs you and your workers in injury)

5. Large Variety of Products

Local safety equipment suppliers might not have the square footage of some big retailers but don’t let that fool you. Often locally owned PPE providers have just as many choices as the big stores.

This is where a good relationship comes in handy, walking into a big retailer you are left on your own, choosing from only what is available. But with a small, local store, you have experts available to you and through a conversation about your needs, you have not only what is on the shelf in front of you, but you also have the solutions of the vendors on the shelf.

Local safety providers maintain close relationships with their vendors, so if they don’t have something in stock at the moment, you know they will work with their vendor to get your exactly what you need, not something that will make do.

Making a Decision

Local safety suppliers, like Gloves Plus Inc., have over three decades of experience helping companies provide their teams with proper safety equipment. Being local and fitting all the criteria, they have case studies and a dedicated team who have spent years in multiple industries working with this equipment.

Gloves Plus is ready to help you find the perfect solution for you and your team. Contact us today to find out just how great of a safety solution partner we can be.