Where do staff uniforms, safety shoes and PPE go in our carbon footprint?

They are purchased goods, so they belong in Scope 3 Category 1. Use quantities and materials from the invoice where you have them, such as pieces of cotton or polyester uniform and pairs of safety shoes, and a spend-based estimate for the rest. They are usually a small line.

What to include

• Uniforms, aprons and coats: count pieces and fabric type.
• Safety shoes, helmets, gloves, goggles and ear protection.
• Disposable PPE such as masks and nitrile gloves, which can add up in pharma and food plants.
• Laundry of uniforms by an outside service is a purchased service, also Category 1.

How to estimate

• Activity-based: pieces x a per-piece factor for the material, where a supplier or database gives one.
• Spend-based: invoice value excluding GST x a factor for the product group, stating the factor's source and price year.
• Disposal of used PPE is Category 5, waste.

Is it worth the effort

For most manufacturers uniforms and PPE are a small share of Scope 3. Estimate once by spend; if it is under a few percent of your Scope 3, keep the spend method and say so.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads purchase and service invoices; it uses quantities where the invoice shows them and otherwise gives a spend-based estimate, labelled as spend-based with wider uncertainty.

• Mapping expense ledgers to Scope 3
• Spend-based Scope 3: GST, inflation, currency
• T-shirt footprint cradle to gate

Sources: GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard, Category 1 purchased goods and services

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.