Long Sleeved or Short Sleeved Uniforms

Tuesday 28th of June 2011 03:15:23 AM

Office workers wearing promotional clothing don’t usually have to be concerned with bacteria. But doctors, researchers and other medical personnel do. Also concerned with exposure to germs on the job are hotel workers, sanitation workers and others. The question is: should these people who are wearing uniforms choose long sleeved or short sleeved shirts?

Have you ever considered how much bacteria adheres to the fabric in your clothing? A group of researchers asked that very question. The researchers working, working at Denver Health and the University of Colorado Health Sciences, Center decided to study this very issue. They actually researched whether there is a difference in bacterial contamination when doctors wore long sleeved traditional white coats versus short-sleeved uniforms. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

The study involved 100 medical personnel. They included hospital residents, doctors, lab workers and so on. Some wore newly cleaned white coats with long sleeves while others wore newly washed short-sleeved uniforms. The medical personnel wore the coats for a designated period of time. The clothing was then tested for the presence of bacterial colonies.

The results were surprising to some. There were no differences in the bacteria counts on the long sleeved white coats versus the short sleeved uniforms. These research findings may have a beating on British government agencies that prohibit the wearing of long sleeved white coats.

If your company works in an industry that exposes workers to bacteria, you can choose long or short sleeved shirts for uniforms as long as there is not a government prohibition against one or the other. That’s good news for employees because both are needed depending on the weather.