How high visibility clothing improves safety

Did you know that high visibility clothing was first used in the United Kingdom in 1964? Apparently they were first issued to rail track workers in Scotland and were so successful that they were rolled out throughout the U.K. to all rail workers.

Now of course, high visibility clothing is essential for council workers and any situation where there is low light and poor visibility for workers. They are particularly essential when working around moving vehicles and we have all seen road workers wearing these high-vis vests, during both the day time and night time.

 So if you are a business owner, how do you know that your employees need to wear this type of safety gear? Well the Australian Standard AS/NZS4602.1 sets out the types of high visibility clothing and the situations when it must be worn. There are three different classifications:

• Class D: A high visibility garment for outdoor daytime use, which sets out the type of florescent colour that must be used in the material. It also states that at a minimum, the clothing must encircle the upper body.

• Class N: Designed for night time use only and must include retro reflective elements on a non-retro reflective background. The retro reflective elements can be easily seen by drivers in their headlights. The Standard sets out the size of the retro reflective strips that must be incorporated into the clothing and the style and location of these strips on this type of clothing; text or symbols must occupy additional space. The clothing must encircle the upper body down to the waist.

• Class D/N: These are a combination of the above garments and can be worn in both high and low visibility environments, in other words, during the daytime and night time. They must combine all elements from both Class D and Class N high visibility clothing.

If you believe that your employees need high visibility clothing then check the Australian Standards and then call us at Everything Vibrant in Brisbane. We can print high visibility reflective vinyl onto your work wear, which means that we can print the reflective strips and your company name and logo onto your safety wear.