Why wearing uniforms outside practice is an infection-control risk
A Vet Times commentary is renewing attention on a basic but often inconsistently enforced infection-control measure in veterinary practice: don’t wear clinical uniforms beyond the workplace. In the piece, Jane Davidson argues that if a practice faces infection-control failures, visible habits such as stopping at the shops, the pub, or even a human hospital in uniform can quickly become part of the reputational fallout. Her core recommendation is straightforward: uniforms should be worn only on practice premises, as one element of a broader infection-control strategy. (vettimes.com)
The argument isn’t new, but it sits on a deeper body of veterinary and healthcare guidance that has been building for years. A 2015 Vet Times article on hygiene warned that growing patient throughput, cross-contamination risk, and routine antibiotic use can mask weaknesses in day-to-day infection prevention. More broadly, infection-control experts in veterinary medicine have long argued that practices need written protocols, training, and consistent modeling of good behavior, not just ad hoc cleaning or PPE use when a known problem appears. (vettimes.co.uk)
Current veterinary guidance supports Davidson’s position. RCVS Knowledge advises that if staff are in the practice or on site, uniforms or other clothes worn only for work are highly recommended, should only be worn on site, and should not be worn while traveling to and from home. It also says uniforms should ideally be laundered at work and, if home laundering is necessary, transported in a sealed bag and washed immediately. The British Veterinary Nursing Association has published similar advice, stating that uniforms should only be worn at work and ideally laundered there, and explicitly telling staff not to wear uniform or scrubs to and from work. (knowledge.rcvs.org.uk)
There’s also a practical evidence base behind the concern, even if not every step has been studied equally in veterinary settings. Infection-control guidance for veterinary hospitals treats dedicated clothing, gowns, lab coats, eye protection, and footwear controls as standard barriers when there is risk of contamination from infectious animals, fluids, discharge, or contaminated environments. The AAHA infection-control and biosecurity guidelines, hosted by RCVS Knowledge, recommend single-use gowns or dedicated laboratory coats in scenarios with elevated risk of clothing contamination, including respiratory disease, diarrhea, skin infection, dentistry, obstetrics, necropsy, and handling soiled linens. A review on barrier precautions in veterinary hospitals notes that gowns are intended to reduce pathogen transmission from patients or their environment to other patients and settings. (knowledge.rcvs.org.uk)
Human healthcare policy offers a useful comparison point for veterinary teams building their own rules. The All Wales NHS dress code states that where changing facilities exist, staff should remove uniforms on site. If uniforms must be laundered at home, the guidance says they should be transported in a plastic bag and washed at the hottest temperature suitable for the fabric, with 10 minutes at 60°C removing most microorganisms. Other NHS dress-code policies also emphasize that, even where direct evidence of harm from uniforms in public is limited, public perception of hygiene and professionalism matters, and off-duty wear in public places can undermine trust. (gov.wales)
That reputational point may be especially relevant in companion animal practice, where pet parents increasingly expect visible, credible biosecurity standards. Research on veterinarian attire suggests clothing affects client perceptions of competence and comfort, and that those perceptions can shift when infection-control reasoning is explained. In one study, preference for white coats diminished after clients were told about infection-control recommendations, while support for scrubs and smart-casual clinical attire increased. That doesn’t prove uniforms worn outside practice spread infection, but it does suggest that what teams wear, and where they wear it, shapes how pet parents interpret professionalism and safety. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the bigger issue is whether uniforms are treated as a real IPC control or just branding. A practice that tells staff to wear scrubs, but has no changing area, no laundry workflow, no bagging process for contaminated clothing, and no written expectations for commuting or errands, is leaving a gap in its infection-control chain. Uniform policy also touches staff welfare, because consistent rules reduce ambiguity about contamination risk, home laundering, and exposure of family members or housemates to soiled workwear. In an era of antimicrobial resistance, higher caseload intensity, and closer scrutiny of clinical standards, visible compliance behaviors can reinforce a practice’s wider safety culture. (gov.wales)
What to watch: The next step for practices is likely to be less debate about principle and more operational follow-through, including written uniform policies, clearer laundering protocols, better access to changing space, and stronger alignment between infection control, staff training, and client-facing professionalism. (vettimes.com)