What do I need to know before running a product trial on safety PPE?

Product trials can incite fear in the minds of even the most seasoned professionals. Trialling PPE in a market that is overflowing with products doing almost entirely the same thing, at sporadic pricing and varying degrees of quality is an exercise more frequently likened to The Hunger Games than Cinderella; the shoe fitting just isn’t enough anymore!

There’s a lot to take into account when you’re going to run a product trial, like size options, technical ability, longevity and sustainability, but don’t let that put you off! You can get incredible value out of a successful one. In this article, you’ll learn how to do just that. We’ve broken down our experience, frequently asked questions, and past hiccups into these bite-sized sections:

• What does ‘success’ mean for a product trial?
• Difference between better or worse fit
• Who will benefit from a product trial?
• How do I measure success?
• How do I get a product for a trial?
• How many employees do I include in my trial?
• How long should a trial take?
• What information do I give to other decision-makers?
• We have previously had issues with comfort, how do I know the comfort level will be suitable before we start the trial?
• How do I know that a supplier is not biased towards a specific brand of product?
• Do I have to pay for trial products?
• How many trial products can I get?
• How do I get my employees to give me feedback?
• How do I choose the right products for the trial?
• How do I start my product trial?

Lion Safety has over 30 years of experience delivering solutions and right-fit products to clients in industries that won’t afford them the luxury of making mistakes. We understand the importance of providing the right garments for your workers. A successful product trial can achieve this for your company and employees. Whatever your reason for wanting to conduct a product trial, we’ve probably heard it. 

You don’t get to 30 years of successful business and trade without having made a few mistakes of your own. So we’ve sprinkled in some of our hard-learned lessons; that way, you won’t trip up where we did. We’ve put together this guide using our most-asked questions to make your product trial run smoother, faster, and more effectively. 

What does ‘success’ mean for a product trial?

Firstly, let’s talk about what we mean by ‘successful’. Success here does not necessarily mean you buy the products you’ve trialled. Rather, the trial itself provides the data to determine whether your trialled products are the right fit for your workers.

A successful product trial will:

• Determine whether the products you have trialled will work for your team

• Give valuable insight into your employees’ mindsets towards their current and trialled PPE in the form of good, old-fashioned, honest feedback.

• Boost employee engagement by showing you value their opinion on matters that concern them (their work uniforms and safety workwear)

• Last, but certainly not least, it will give you solid logic to take to your procurement team when it comes to buying products that you know are the right fit for your team. (And they will love you for this because you’re making their job easier by showing them the data.)

Success is measurable. It is important to remember that in any product trial, defining your methods of measurement is the key to ensuring success.

Difference between better or worse (fit)

Throughout this guide, you will see products referred to in the framework of ‘better or worse fit’ products. We believe there are no better or worse products, just better or worse fit products. In a market as oversaturated as the PPE market, some products may be a bad fit for you but are a great fit for somebody else. You need to be able to cut through the noise of the industry and navigate product trials with this mindset.

Better or worse DOES NOT equate to more (or less) expensive. What we are talking about is how the product performs for your team. A cheap piece of footwear may be perfect for your team if the task on hand is light and/or the workforce is temporary. However, this item would not be suitable for a task that is more intensive in another environment. So, it is important to ensure you have a good understanding of the requirements for the environment in which the PPE is expected to perform.

Who will benefit from a product trial?

You will benefit more from a product trial if:

• You have a larger workforce (more than 50 employees requiring the product you are trialling).

We have found that bigger companies are more likely to take a trial seriously and ensure its success. Larger companies often have a greater risk to staff if something were to go wrong, be it injury or a lawsuit.

• You have staff that are vocal about their PPE be it positive or negative feedback, or at least willing to discuss its efficacy with you.

If you already have staff willing to discuss their workwear, you’ve overcome one of the biggest hiccups people find when running product trials.

• You/your company is prepared to invest in a product trial and better PPE.

Over the years, we’ve seen that the companies most likely to come out of a product trial with tangible results are those that are prepared to invest in better quality products for their staff. These companies already have a culture that values staff above expense, and will do what they can to ensure their staff are happy with the workwear they receive.

You will not benefit from a product trial if:

• You are a smaller company with a handful of people who require the PPE you are providing.

If this sounds like you, you would be better off ordering samples for review and conducting a discussion with key staff members who will be wearing them. This still allows for the employees to review the product honestly.

• Your company’s purse strings are tight at the moment.

We get it, product trials can be expensive, and the prospect of trialling a product that could be a worse fit is not viable for everyone. In this circumstance, we would recommend doing thorough research with the supplier and asking about the experience of other clients in a similar industry. Better yet, ask for case studies where possible. You might want to try your luck and ask for free samples on a ‘sale or return’ basis – you never know which suppliers might be open to this until you ask them.

• You have a large workforce who are spread across several departments with different workwear preferences. (AKA doing a product trial for a specific bit of kit may only benefit a single member of that task force.)

The product trial stage may be too far in advance for where your company is, due to lack of consolidation or smaller numbers. What you can do is begin a review of what uniform is required. The second stage of this is to follow up with an opportunity to consolidate requirements. 

For example; a team has requested trousers with holster pockets – consider whether you could issue holster pockets to more people in your workforce. If the answer is yes, you can get those teams involved in a product trial to determine if you will issue this to the whole workforce.

How do I measure success?

So, we’ve already established that success means a clear outcome from the trial. Measurement is your way to ensure you get that successful result. Before you begin a trial, you need to determine the below questions:

• What would make this a better or worse fit product? 

• How does this compare with the products you’ve already had?

• Is it more or less comfortable than your current/previous PPE?

• Rate the flexibility and ease of movement (1-10 scales usually work well here)

• Are the technical elements meeting requirements for the environment they will be used? (breathability, waterproofness, durability, temperature regulation)

• Is the product easy to care for? (1-10 scale)

• Does the appearance of the product alter after being washed?

• How long is the product going to last based on max no. of washes? (Hi-vis max 25 washes certified – how long does this equate to in terms of the life of the product?)

These questions can help determine what you might need to do to trial a product better. For example, if you are trialling a product to be used in foul weather, we would suggest you use it in foul weather to see how it performs against the criteria the employees will be ranking it against. If you have a heavy emphasis on comfort, you may want to give the comfort aspect a higher weight in the overall scoring.

How you measure success is subjective, and so it is important that you know what you want to improve or eliminate in a product before you set the criteria. 

How do I get a product for a trial?

Ask! It’s that simple!

Some suppliers will charge, while others will not. This is at their discretion, so it is important to ask this question upfront. You may need a PO to proceed.

Once you have done some research on a supplier (advised), and have analysed what it is you need, you should:

• engage with the supplier (or suppliers) you intend to use for the trial 

• Talk to them about how you would like to conduct a product trial, and which items you’d like to trial in that process. (They may have other suggestions here, which if you are open to, you can take on board.) If you have decided what items you would like to trial and find that a supplier is insistent on providing a different range, you may want to examine their motives for doing so (AKA, do they have your interests in mind or that of their sales targets?). 

Remember, you are in control of this trial. The products you choose to trial are your choice. Suppliers may offer suggestions on what to trial, but it’s down to you to make sure that this trial is effective.

How many employees do I include in my trial?

This may not seem like an important step, but it may be one of the most important decisions you make for your product trial. Why? Because the data you collect, the results you get and the course of action you take following the results of the trial all rely on who you pick, and how many people you pick to take part.

We recommend that 5% of your workforce take part in a product trial to ensure good representation. This 5% must include a range of job roles, personality types and hierarchical seniority (don’t just put your management team or your mates in the trial).

Our rule of thumb is 5% or 5 people (whichever is greater).

We’ve found the best way to get a good representation is to first engage with managers to identify a range of workers who would be prepared to offer honest feedback and would consider the products from the perspective of what is best for the whole team. Following this, you can put up sign-up sheets in break rooms.

How long should a trial take?

Over the years we have seen trials go on way too long, and the purpose of them gets lost when this happens. But, if you cut a trial short, there is a risk of not getting the true representation of how a garment would perform for your teams. Therefore, we suggest four weeks.

Four weeks gives enough time to adjust to the sample clothing and allows for a simple routine of possible wearing/washing, which will help determine the product’s lifetime. A thorough testing period will show you if the product sample is suitable in terms of durability if its technical elements work if it has any snags (literally and figuratively).

What information do I give to my decision-makers?

Different decision-makers will want to know different information about the outcome and running of your product trial.

The above questions are bound to crop up at some point. It might be a good idea to get groups with similar questions together for a discussion or presentation. You can always ask a supplier to come along to any internal talks you have to deliver to discuss the more technical sides of the product and their application if you do not feel confident in doing so.

It is always worth following a meeting such as this with a summary email or minutes of what has been discussed, agreed upon, queried and actioned.

We have previously had issues with comfort, how do I know the comfort level will be suitable before we start the trial?

Simple answer: you don’t (unless going by recommendation or word of mouth).

The best way to try and mitigate this is to order sample products for review or ask your supplier to present the products to you before trialling them. Whilst feeling and touching the garment will provide some insight, you can’t know if it will be comfortable until it has been worn in its work environment.

How do I know that a supplier is not biased towards a specific brand of product?

This is a hard one. Some suppliers are more loyal to certain manufacturers and this could be for a variety of reasons. Sure, it might be that this particular manufacturer gives them better rates, but it could also be that they prefer a manufacturer due to their high-quality standards, or good ethics.

It’s always a good idea to have an open discussion with your potential supplier about why they use the brand/manufacturers they do. They may say something impactful that you had not yet thought of, and that can sway your decision on brand.

If you are not convinced of their reasons for particular brand loyalty, you can always ask the supplier for a case study, or better yet, do some digging of your own and head to Google reviews or Trustpilot for a bit of background. You’d be surprised how much you can find when you look for reviews. If you are going treasure-hunting through Google reviews, we advise that you take things with a pinch of salt; people usually only leave reviews if they are delighted or very, very angry!

Do I have to pay for trial products?

This depends on which supplier(s) you choose to trial with. Some suppliers are happy to give away trial products for free, especially if they see that they will get business out of it in the end. Other suppliers require payment for trial products. Often this is to ensure they are only doing business with companies that have a genuine interest in working with them.

How many trial products can I get?

This is also down to you or the supplier depending on the arrangement;

• If you are receiving items for free, there will likely be a limit to how many the supplier is willing to give.

• If you are paying for them, the number of products you trial is up to you. Remember that if you want to get a good representation of your workforce, 5% (or 5 people) will need to all be trialling the same piece of kit. Whether that is 5 people or 50, you must provide them with the same garment or your trial will not yield reliable results.

How do I get my employees to give me feedback?

When it comes to employee engagement, especially with feedback, it is important to set expectations and parameters. You can’t get valuable feedback from your people if they don’t know what questions you want them to answer. They need to understand the point of the exercise, so it’s important to have determined this before you bring them on board.

Your employees will be wondering “what’s in it for me?”. They must understand the point of the product trial is to enhance/improve the employee experience through their workwear.

With that in mind, it is also a good idea to have a set framework of how and when your employees (and employee working groups) will be required to:

• Sign up to take part in the trial

• Be communicated with about the trial

• Gather and present feedback

• Take part in constructive discussions

• Be presented with the results at the end of the trial

A tip from our experience: some of the best feedback you can get from employees, both honest and constructive, can come from unexpected sources. Some of the best, most in-depth feedback we have ever received from a product trial was provided by a bin-man. Give somebody who will be wearing the garment the chance to try it themselves. They will give you insight as to whether it will work for them or not.

How do I choose the right products for the trial?

PPE is your last line of defence in any situation, right? Therefore, the reasons and conditions for which PPE is needed should be determined by a risk assessment.

Following a clear risk assessment, you can:

1. Produce a set of mitigations, which include the use of PPE 
2. Determine a set of specifications to ensure that the risks are mitigated as far as possible, and determine the minimum standards that the PPE must comply with
3. From these specifications, you need to select the product. 

At this point, you are looking to generalise types of products (such as hi-vis polo, hi-vis waistcoat, and waterproof footwear). When choosing products, you need to take into account: 

1. Company colours/colour range
2. Size range
3. Inclusivity for all requirements that may not be catered for, like women’s ranges, plus size, maternity, modest clothing etc. There is not a “one size fits all” when it comes to PPE; you are legally required to supply your employees with PPE that fits correctly.
4. Availability
5. Layering

You need to think about all layers of clothing, not only for warmth, but because if an employee takes off a layer, the next layer down needs to offer the same protection and meet the same standards as the layer they have taken off. 

6. Consider previous pain points with PPE. Focus on rooting out past problems, and you will find better-fit products. 
7. Now you’ve picked your products, the next step is speaking to your chosen supplier and sourcing the products for trial. 

Can I get products to trial that cover an employee from head to toe?

Unless you’re talking about getting some sort of wetsuit, you’ll be looking at trialling a variety of products from shoes, to base layers, to hard hats. This is, of course, doable. But, there are some things to be aware of here:

• If you are asking your team to trial an entirely new (or multiple new components) uniform, you may struggle to get focused feedback on any given piece of it.

• This will be expensive.

• There is a lot of legwork on your part trying to source new products that will be the best fit for your teams when looking at all aspects of their uniform.

• You may have to juggle multiple suppliers if one supplier does not stock all the items you require.

• Your staff might not see the value in the individual pieces of new equipment if they are all trialled/issued together.

How do I start my product trial?

Great! Now you’ve chosen your supplier and the products you want to try, your next step is to begin the product trial! 

We know, this can be daunting but don’t worry, we’ve put together a guide on how to run a product trial.

If you don’t have the time or resources to run your own product trial, don’t worry, Lion Safety can do this for you. Find out more about how Lion Safety run product trials.