Electrician Clothes / PPE
Before walking onto your first jobsite you want to be sure you not only have all the tools you need, but also the right clothes and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Remember: It is federal OSHA law that employers must pay for and provide you with the necessary PPE needed to comply with OSHA standards. This includes your hardhat, safety glasses, safety vest, gloves, and ear plugs. You do not have to provide or buy these. My recommendations for those specific items are only if you wish to upgrade, work on your own, run your own business, or otherwise want to purchase them.
Hardhats
Klein’s hardhat comes with a rechargeable headlamp that mounts straight to it without a strap, vented slits, and a high end machine washable sweatband. It’s everything you need in one affordable package.
Headlamp
Having a headlamp on the job is incredibly important. When power goes off or when you need to look above ceiling / in a crawlspace, having a light with you at all times is imperative. This Milwaukee headlamp is by far the most popular one, and for good reason. It is compact and rechargeable, and packs a punch with 475 lumens that lasts a full 8 hour shift. Very few if any other headlamps on the market can say the same thing.
Hardhat Accessories
There are two other hardhat accessories I love. First, always have a hard hat sunshade on you for any outside work. This one is very affordable and folds up into a flat pocket that is easy to pack away.
Second, hard hat sweatband liners. I change mine out every day as these are machine washable. I find putting the same manufacturer sweatband on my forehead every day with all the accumulated sweat and dirt to be rather gross. I also find it irritates my skin. Do yourself a favor and get these which will make wearing you hard hat much more comfortable.
Safety Glasses
Nemesis safety glasses meet the high ANSI Z87.1+ standards of the industry. They have polycarbonate frame and lenses specifically engineered to keep sweat from dripping down into your eyes. The shaded version provides 99.9% UVA/ UVB/UVC protection.
Face Coverings
I’ve fallen a bit in love with neck gators. They provide UPF protection from working in the sun, keep the heat off you (especially when combined with a sun shade), filter dust and debris on the job, AND count as a covid mask. Win win win.
Work Shirts
Most companies will provide t-shirts to wear, but not all. Sometimes the ones that do have shitty shirts. In these cases, I buy generic work shirts for cheap off amazon. I don’t see any need in buying expensive work shirts that will just get filthy and torn on a job site. These shirts are $5 a pop, fit great and are comfortable. Available in multitude of colors.
Tic Tracer
A tic tracer, or non-contact voltage tracer, is arguably the most important tool on the job. If you’re an electrician, you will be expected to have this on you at all times, as it will be your way of quickly testing to see if a circuit is live or not.
Clip this on your safety vest and make sure it stays on. Doubles as a flashlight.
Gloves
The standard glove in the construction market, these Maxiflex gloves are ANSI-A1 cut resistant, nitrile dipped, breathable and can be washed to keep clean. They are thin enough to keep dexterity during work, but strong enough to protect you from sharp materials.
Work Pants
I wore jeans for years on job sites. Every year they would get holes and I would replace them. Since I bought Dickies work pants five years ago, only a one has got a small tear in the pant pocket. They are absolutely worth the money and the cell phone pocket is great for when you’re wearing bags.
In the future though I would upgrade to Carhartt. They have a better build that has more pockets to store your tools if you’re packing light, where my Dickies really only has the back pockets for tools.
Socks
If you don’t have Darn Tough socks, it’s time to upgrade. Not only are they extremely comfortable and made in America, they come with a lifetime guarantee. These can literally be the first and last work socks you ever buy. Any damage whatsoever, even normal wear and tear, they will replace it for free no questions asked.
Not convinced? Let the 6000+ 5 star reviews back up how great these socks are.