A Scots contractor is helping reduce the costly problem of providing personal protection equipment to sub-contractors…by installing vending machines at its sites.
Now workers who turn up without the proper safety clothing will be able to get kitted out by using cash or a credit card.
Barr Construction operates up to 10 projects at a time and the majority of the workforce are sub-contractors. To ensure projects stayed on schedule, Barr provided safety gear such as footwear, gloves, hard hats, eye and ear protection and high-visibility vests to workers who did not have their own PPE.
However, the practice was unwieldy, difficult to control and costly. Dave Berman, director of VendEase Ltd, said: “Thanks to vending machine technology, Barr now has a cost neutral solution to the often expensive obligation of providing essential safety gear. This vending machine will be like an on-site store cupboard but it will never be locked. It will always be stocked with tools for the job and you won’t have to cut through any red tape to get at what you need, when you need it.”