Placement Season: Lab Coats for Your Industry Prac Subject

Third year hits and suddenly you're not a student in a teaching lab — you're on placement in a real workplace. The PPE expectations change too. Here's what to sort before your first day.

First: Find Out What the Workplace Supplies

Every placement is different, and the answer is in the placement pack your coordinator sends:

Some workplaces issue PPE on arrival — food factories in particular often supply uniforms and coats for hygiene control. In that case, don't buy — bringing outside coats into a food plant is sometimes actively banned
Some expect you to bring your own lab coat — common in smaller labs, quality-assurance roles, university-run clinics and some research placements
Some reimburse PPE purchases — keep the receipt, because a proper invoice (we provide one) is what your claim form wants

If the pack is vague, email your placement supervisor before buying. It's a professional-looking question, and it's better than arriving with the wrong thing.

Matching the Coat to the Placement

Food processing, food science, quality assurance in production: Our Food Processing Industry Coat — $24 ex GST is built for exactly these environments: no pockets (nothing falls out into production lines — a genuine food-safety compliance feature) plus concealed low-strength studs. If your placement involves food-handling areas, this is the coat.

General labs, research, pathology-adjacent, teaching-adjacent: The standard lab coat — white, $24, in traditional (open) or elastic cuff. Elastic cuffs are worth the same-price upgrade in any lab with heat or rotating equipment: the sleeve stays snug at the wrist and off your hands.

Workshops and industrial settings where navy is allowed: Navy hides the wear of a 12-week placement far better than white — $27 ex GST, traditional or elastic cuff.

The Fit Matters More on Placement Than in Class

You'll wear this coat full days, not two-hour pracs — so get the sizing right. Don't guess: lay a jacket you already wear over clothes flat on a table and match it against the Sizing Chart measurements. XXS to 3XL.

Timing, Because Placements Have Hard Start Dates

In-stock, unprinted coats are dispatched within 24 hours; standard shipping is 5–7 business days, express 2–3
Logo printing (if your cohort is getting branded coats) adds 3–5 business days
Order at least two weeks before your start date so there's room for an exchange — free size exchanges within 7 days, but only if you've left time to use it

For Coordinators Ordering for a Cohort

Running a subject where the whole placement group needs coats? Universities can order on Purchase Orders — goods now, payment through the university's accounts process — with no minimum order. Official quotes come back within 1 business day (valid 30 days), and we can split-ship to multiple placement locations. See Purchase Orders.

Sorted Before Day One

Browse the Shop — including the Food Processing Industry Coat
Measure up on the Sizing Chart
Purchase Orders for cohort and coordinator orders