What to look for in your PPE provider
In an age where personal protective equipment (PPE) is a key safety mechanism against viruses, selecting the right PPE provider is absolutely essential. Partnering with a reliable and experienced PPE provider can help ensure high-quality protection for health workers and prevent shortages. Therefore, it is important to keep the following factors in mind to find a trusted PPE supplier.
1. Local operations
Partnering with a locally owned and operating PPE business can help ensure easy accessibility and availability of products. This also allows for visiting the store and checking the equipment quality before ordering in bulk. Moreover, local suppliers rely on word-of-mouth reviews from loyal clients. If rated highly, such PPE suppliers will not only provide good-quality products but also provide suggestions and offers.
2. Delivery options
PPE providers must offer consistent shipping and delivery options such that products reach the required areas in time and meet the customer demands. Reliable and quick delivery, along with immediate replacement of products, bulk delivery options and reasonable shipping costs, is of utmost importance for the health and safety of the end-users.
3. Customized services
More often, organizations or individuals have specific bulk-order requirements, which must be supplied in due time. Providing solutions based on the customers’ needs, suppliers that can offer and deliver personalized orders at economical rates are preferable to those who offer standard one-size fits all products. Emphasizing on safety over products, PPE providers who audit the work site first and accordingly provide safety equipment to minimize danger are highly recommended. Apart from this, PPE suppliers tailor-make products based on unique requirements and degrees of protection. Such providers are dependable as they customize to the comfort and style of the clients using breathable materials providing optimum safety and protection throughout long working hours.
4. Economical pricing
Generally, customized solutions can be expensive, mainly due to shipping costs. Choosing a known or local provider helps eliminate the extra costs, such as delivering and returning, such that the total price includes only the actual cost and accounts for good-quality PPE. Furthermore, it is easier to get reasonable pricing and value offers through references.
5. Variety
PPE suppliers that offer a variety of products based on the customers’ requirements and budget is another prerequisite while choosing the right partners. PPE providers should have a wide range of equipment that is readily available and up to date with regard to safety standards. Quality PPE providers generally offer assorted, customizable PPE to keep users safe from head to toe. An equipment provider should therefore have PPE with a full range of safety solutions. This can help customers save time and money while making an informed choice about the correct product for different levels of protection and prioritizing emergency PPE supply.
6. Safety standards
Most importantly, PPE must be of high quality to fulfil the required standards to ensure the safety of users before everything else. It is essential to find a PPE partner that consistently upgrades products according to the changes in industry safety standards. Meeting important safety standards such as NFPA, NIOSH and ANSI, PPE must be tested for performance and updated using lab-tested fabrics and materials for protection.
7. Industry knowledge
A PPE provider must be well-versed with the perfect product for various work environments, to provide long-term protection while meeting the industry standards. Relevant experience and in-depth understanding of the users’ work and knowledge regarding relevant surfaces, possible contaminants and physical attributes are important for providing the optimum PPE. Therefore, PPE providers with years of knowledge and experience are the most reliable partners.
8. Product information
Maintaining transparency about the product details and understanding what works where is a must before recommending PPE. PPE providers must recommend products based on the worker’s perspective because it is a matter of their safety and comfort, irrespective of the work or conditions. An expert PPE provider must be able to guide users with the available and customizable options for a trusted partnership. A good PPE provider must also be able to help customers identify safety risks in the work environment and provide the best solutions and guidance to overcome them. Therefore, a good PPE supplier must help resolve and ease PPE procurement instead of burdening and complicating the customers’ work. Accordingly, providers offering online solutions, such as Pipeline Medical, with detailed information on each product, along with simple delivery options, can also be a reliable source of PPE. Buying from online providers can help save the time and effort that buyers require to select the perfect PPE for their work environment. In essence, the ideal PPE supplier must be a one-stop shop for all PPE solutions, offering the full range of protection for customers, detailed product designs with customization, quality product manufacturing information, bulk delivery offers, testing, distribution and services are the best ones to partner up with.
