Understanding Hi-Vis Standards and the Importance ...
Understanding Hi-Vis Standards and the Importance ...
Think you're too cool to wear a bright new high-vis vest on the job? Afraid you'll look like the wide-eyed coffee-fetching rookie? Time for a reality check, you ol' grizzled vet. If you're not seen, you're at risk. And hi-vis gear that's old, worn, and dirty isn't exactly high visibility anymore. Sure, your tattered and dirt-caked vest may showcase all the hours you've put in and the hard work accomplished, but it's not doing its job – making sure you're visible to those around you.
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What is Hi-Vis?
High-visibility apparel (or hi-vis) is clothing like jackets, pants, vests, coveralls, etc. that workers can wear to improve how well others see them in a work environment. Hi-vis is especially critical for workers around moving vehicles or equipment, particularly in low-light environments. By definition, hi-vis has color properties that are easily discernible from any background and is highly reflective. Fluorescent yellow-green, orange, and red (less common in the U.S.) are approved hi-vis colors because the human eye is most sensitive—and thus responds most quickly—when it sees them. Unlike other colors on the visible spectrum, they are not subject to the "graying" effect that impacts other colors in low-light environments.
The reflective properties come from retroreflective strips on the garment that reflect light back at its original source (like headlights). To be certified, the garment must meet ANSI standards on the widths and amounts of compliant retroreflective material to enhance a person's visibility in low-lighting. All compliant hi-vis apparel is required to be balanced in design, meaning no less than 40% of the minimum required amount of reflective and background material has to be present on both the front and back of the garment when laid flat. This ensures the worker is visible from both the front and back.
Do Your Workers Need Hi-Vis Clothing?
Many workers are either required to wear high-visibility clothing on the job site or choose to wear it to reduce the risk of on-the-job incidents. The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices 2009 (MUTCD 2009) is translated and enforced on a state-by-state basis when it comes to who is required to wear hi-vis. OSHA interpreted this mandate to say that employees working on highway maintenance jobs and road construction work zones must wear high-visibility garments when working as flaggers or are exposed to public vehicle traffic and/or construction equipment. This mandate includes all workers, including construction, maintenance, utility, emergency/incident responders, and volunteers operating on or near public-access roadways to wear high-visibility clothing.
Other industries like general construction, airport workers, warehouse workers, linesmen, highway maintenance jobs, and many other industries may choose to require their employees to wear high-visibility workwear to ensure safety on the job. As long as the work is not performed on a public roadway, high visibility clothing is not federally required. However, in all these industries, there is moving equipment and the risk of injury, so high-visibility gear is a smart idea to prevent accidents.
The ANSI/ISEA Standard
The standards for hi-vis set by the American National Standards Institute and the International Safety Equipment Association (ANSI and ISEA) pertain more to the construction of the garment rather than who needs to wear it.
ANSI/ISEA 107 is the industry regulation established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA). It sets out garment design requirements for multiple Garment Types for high-visibility vests, jackets, pants, and more—plus, five different Performance Classes within those Types. The standard combines two previously recognized hi-vis apparel standards designed to cover garment requirements for non-public safety workers and public safety employees, such as police and firefighters. It also provides performance testing criteria for the materials used to make the garments.
Classes & Types
The standard sets requirements for the design and minimum amount of fluorescent material and retroreflective material. The standard breaks out three types of garments with 5 performance classes. Each class within the type indicates how much of the garment has to be high visibility material. Therefore, a Class 3 garment would be more visible, with more retroreflective material and more fluorescent background than a Class 2.
Class 1 garments offer the minimum amount of high-visibility materials needed to differentiate the wearer from non-complex work environments like warehouses or workers retrieving shopping carts from a parking lot. These can be in the form of reflective safety vests or high-visibility shirts with less hi-vis material.
At the other end of the high-vis spectrum, Class 3 offers the greatest amount of high-visibility materials to allow for the best definition of the human form in both complex backgrounds and through a full range of movement. This is why Class 3 garments have sleeves with retroreflective tape—to distinguish the worker from objects on the job site and add visibility through a full range of motion. These are commonly worn by road workers in highway zones or around vehicles/traffic.
Class 2 falls somewhere in the middle, with more hi-vis materials than Class 1, but less than Class 3. Class 2 garments can be either long-sleeved or short-sleeved but will not have reflective tape on the arms.
This standard further breaks out the three types of garments into three different Types, which we explain more in-depth in our blog post on Understanding Hi-Vis Standards. Those three classes are:
- Type O Hi-Vis (Off-Road): Workers not required to wear hi-vis apparel but are in an environment with moving equipment/vehicles where visibility is a concern.
- Type R Hi-Vis (Roadway): Workers who are exposed to roadway traffic and are in an area exposed to moving equipment/vehicles.
- Type P Hi-Vis (Public Safety): First responders, police, fire, and EMS.
The chart below illustrates the square inch requirement of background and reflective material. While you may not need to know the exact specs, it shows how much extra visibility your crew will get in Class 3 versus Class 2 gear. Always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to staying visible on the job site.
Another thing to note is that you can obtain Class 3 compliance in one of two ways. The first is obvious: wear a Class 3 compliant garment (a fluorescent shirt or a jacket with reflective tape on the sleeves). But you can also take a Class 2 garment like a vest and pair it with Class E compliant bottoms for full Class 3 compliance. Class E is a supplemental class of garments like pants and leg gaiters.
Class 2 + Class E = Class 3!
These days, hi-vis gear comes in all shapes and sizes, so there's really no reason not to be wearing hi-vis gear on the job. As long as you're in compliance with the Type and Class your job site specifies, you can find hi-vis in various styles to suit your personal preference and fit the climate, such as sweatshirts, jackets, tees, and vests.
Yellow vs. Orange: What is the Best Hi-Vis Color?
Apart from critical distinctions between classes and types, safety managers and workers should also identify the best high visibility color for their job site. While fluorescent yellow-green registers the highest level of eye sensitivity, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the safest option for all work environments. Consider a worksite surrounded by foliage—in this setting, bright orange provides a higher contrast than yellow-green amidst the background of green trees. Orange is also a widely accepted hazard signal for drivers, so it may be a better indicator on certain road construction sites.
When to Replace Hi-Vis Clothing
Even though you might think the more battered and beaten your vest looks, the better, your gear does have a service life. You're doing yourself and your crew a disservice by letting your hi-vis apparel get damaged and dirt-caked. Dirt and wear and tear on a job site are inevitable, but recognizing your gear's service life is a critical step in staying safe. All high-visibility items have a limited lifetime that will vary widely depending on use. This service life is affected by how you care for the garment and whether it is being worn in the sun or exposed to a lot of dirt, debris, or heat. Garments should no longer be worn if they're torn, cracked, heavily soiled, noticeably faded, burned, or otherwise damaged. When it's time to retire your hi-vis, make sure to cut it in half so it can no longer be worn by anyone.
Why Replace Hi-Vis Clothing
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we couldn't agree more. These pictures drive home the importance of hi-vis on a job site. All taken in low-light conditions, it's easy to see why hi-vis clothing is so important.
No hi-vis: It's very hard to see the worker and distinguish them from the surroundings. It would be very easy to miss this worker on a busy job site, pretty much asking for trouble with this one.
Old hi-vis: It's better than nothing, but nothing is a pretty low bar. This may look like a badge of honor to some, showing their lengthy service, but to us, this looks like a near-miss (or worse) about to happen.
New hi-vis: Bright, vibrant, reflective, keeping you and your crew seen and safe.
If You're Not Seen, You're Not Safe
We get it; a well-worn vest conveys that you're a pro. That you're not the eager rookie on the job site—that you've been here a while and you know your stuff. It's a pride thing, and we GET it. But your point of pride is missing the point. Because if you're not seen, you're not safe. So ditch the dirty hi-vis and look like the (smart) seasoned vet that you are.
CCOHS: High-Visibility Safety Apparel
What is High-Visibility Safety Apparel (HVSA)?
High-visibility safety apparel (HVSA) is clothing (e.g., vests, bibs, or coveralls) that workers can wear to improve how well other people "see" them (their visibility). Most often, high-visibility clothing is worn to alert drivers and other vehicle operators of a worker's presence, especially in low light and dark conditions. High-visibility headwear can also be worn to increase the visibility of the wearer in situations where part or all of the wearer's body could be obscured (e.g., leaves/trees, traffic barriers, construction materials, etc.).
Design requirements for high-visibility safety clothing are generally found in the CSA Standard Z96-15 (R2020), High-Visibility Safety Apparel. In the United States, the design requirements are outlined in the ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 2020 American National Standard for High-visibility Safety Apparel and Accessories.
Why do I need High-Visibility Safety Apparel?
High-visibility safety apparel (HVSA) is needed if you work when there is low light and poor visibility, especially if you are working around moving vehicles (cars, trucks or other machinery traveling under their own power, such as forklifts, backhoes, etc). High-visibility items allow you to be seen by the drivers of those vehicles from farther away so that they can respond accordingly, which increases your safety at work. The human eye responds best to large, contrasting, bright or moving objects. Worker visibility is enhanced by high color contrast between clothing and the work environment against which it is seen.
When do I need High-Visibility Safety Apparel?
Before selecting any high-visibility safety apparel, always confirm the legislative requirements for your jurisdiction. For example, certain tasks may require specific apparel.
The CSA Standard recommends that a hazard assessment be carried out on each job site to evaluate the workplace or work site for known or potential hazards a worker can encounter while performing a job or task. This assessment helps determine the risk to workers of being hit by moving vehicles and the environmental conditions under which work is performed. For more information about risk assessments, please see the OSH Answers document Risk Assessment.
When doing a hazard assessment where HVSA might be required, be sure to consider:
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- The type and nature of the work:
- Do workers and mobile equipment need to interact?
- Are workers controlling traffic or interacting with the public?
- Do workers need to be visually identifiable from others in the area?
- Are there industry specifications or good practices?
- Potential exposures to heat or flames.
- Work conditions, such as indoor or outdoor work, temperature, work rates, traffic flow, traffic volume, visibility, etc.
- The workplace environment and the background workers must be seen in (e.g., is the visual area behind the workers simple, complex, urban, rural, highway, filled with equipment, cluttered).
- How long the worker is exposed to various traffic hazards, including traffic speeds.
- Lighting conditions and how the natural light might be affected by changing weather (e.g., sunlight, overcast sky, fog, rain, or snow).
- Factors that affect warning distances and times, such as the volume of traffic, the size of vehicles, their potential speeds, the ability to stop quickly, and surface conditions.
- Current controls (e.g., engineering controls such as barricades or administrative control such as training).
- Any distractions that could draw workers attention away from hazards.
- The sightlines of mobile equipment and vehicle operators, especially when vehicles are operated in reverse.
Once the hazards are identified, the employer can select appropriate controls. It is important to eliminate or reduce the hazards using engineering (e.g., physical barriers) and administrative controls (e.g., work during daylight hours). High-visibility apparel is considered to be personal protective equipment and can be used in addition to other controls.
Can I add a logo or name tag to the High-Visibility Apparel?
It depends. According to the CSA Standard, a non-retroreflective identification (ID) badge must be smaller than 105 cm2 and if it is on the front of the garment, can only cover 25 cm2 of either or both of the vertical striping. If the ID badge is on the back, it cannot cover any of the striping. If the ID badge is made of retroreflective striping that meets the requirements of the standard, then the badge can be up to 500 cm2 and be placed anywhere, but should not obscure the pattern of the retroreflective striping.
If the CSA Standard is not specifically referenced in the legislation that applies to your jurisdiction, it is recommended that you contact the government department responsible for occupational health and safety to confirm that alterations are acceptable.
What is the difference between fluorescent and retroreflective materials?
Fluorescent material takes a portion of invisible ultraviolet light from sunlight and through special pigments, sends it back to the viewer as more visible light. This material only functions where there is a source of natural sunlight. Fluorescent material will appear brighter than the same-colored non-fluorescent material, especially under low natural light (e.g., cloud cover, fog, dusk, dawn, etc.). This property offers daytime visibility enhancement that is not present with other colors. These materials enhance daytime visibility, especially at dawn and dusk. Fluorescent colors provide the greatest contrast against most backgrounds.
Retroreflective material is created to return light to the direction of the light's source. This property will let a driver or equipment operator see the light being reflected from the retroreflective material on a person's garment (as long as the person is standing in the light's beam). Retroreflective materials are most effective under low-light conditions. While retroreflective materials can still reflect in the daylight, there is little difference between the light reflected from the garment's material and the surrounding environment. This lack of contrast makes retroreflective materials ineffective for enhanced visibility during (sunny) daytime conditions. There are two levels of retroreflective material.
In contrast, reflective materials bounce light off its surface. While the term "reflective" is not used in the CSA standard, it is typically defined as a material or object that can "throw back" light. Most surfaces are already light reflective.
Combined-performance retroreflective material is a retroreflective material that is also a fluorescent material. Not all retroreflective materials are fluorescent, nor are all fluorescent materials retroreflective.
What should I look for in High-Visibility Safety Apparel?
Coverage/Visibility:
- Bright garments are more visible than dull ones. Coverage all around the body (360° full-body coverage) provides better visibility in all viewing directions.
- Stripes of colors that contrast (have a distinct color difference) with the background material can provide increased visibility. Stripes on the arms and legs can also provide visual clues about the motion of the person wearing the garment.
- When the background material is bright-colored or fluorescent material, it can increase visibility, but it does not provide retroreflective properties.
- Other requirements such as flame resistance, thermal performance, water resistance, durability, comfort, tear-away features, material breathability, and flexibility may be required bases on other hazards present.
Employers should select the color and stripe combination that provides the preferred contrast, visual indication of movement, and direction of travel.
Fit:
- For safety and best
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