High Visibility Safety Apparel

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) have published an update to the ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 standard titled ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 which still specifies the same types, classes and colors of high visibility safety garments based on wearers activities. The update was approved in January of 2010.

The 2010 edition does not make any changes to sections 1-8 found in the 2004 edition, however, the 2010 edition does highlight three significant changes/additions from the 2004 edition. The first is that the criteria for flame resistance (section 9.5) is added as an optional feature of high-visibility PPE and must be certified by the manufacturer as complying with one of the FR tests cited in the standard. The second includes the expansion and updates of testing/labeling requirements related to water repellency and resistance (Appendix D1). The third change involves useful service life guidelines which are now provided (Appendix E).

ANSI/ISEA have also recently published the ANSI/ISEA 207-2006 Standard for High-Visibility Public Safety Vests which establishes design, performance specifications and use criteria for highly visible vests that are used by law enforcement, emergency responders, fire officials, and DOT personnel. This public safety vest standard was created in response to public safety user group demand in 2005 for a high visibility safety vest garment differentiated from ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 compliant apparel. The primary concern was a need for flexibility of designs that would provide tactical capability for law enforcement and emergency responders that was not achievable with ANSI 107 garments and would be distinct from ANSI 107, to avoid interchangeability with other high visibility vests.

ANSI/ISEA 107-2010

There are three classes of garments specified in the standard that are based on the wearers activities.

Class 3: These garments provide the highest level of conspicuity for workers. These are for workers with high task loads in a wide range of weather conditions where traffic exceeds 50 mph. The standard recommends these garments for all roadway construction personnel, vehicle operators, utility workers, survey crews, emergency responders, railway workers and accident site investigators.

Class 2: These garments are for workers who work near roadways where traffic exceeds 25 mph and need greater visibility in inclement weather. Workers who would typically wear these garments are: railway workers, school crossing guards, parking and toll gate personnel, airport ground crews and law enforcement personnel directing traffic.

Class 1: These garments are worn by workers where traffic does not exceed 25 mph and there is ample separation from the traffic. These workers typically are parking service attendants, warehouse workers in equipment traffic, shopping cart retrievers and those doing sidewalk maintenance.

The three classes of garments are differentiated by the requirements for amounts of retroreflective material that needs to meet specified performance criteria, the width and placement of the material, design and the color of vest used.

Class 3: These garments have the greatest visibility of the three classes. These will have more retroreflective material used in its construction than the Class 2 and it must have sleeves with retroreflective material between the shoulders and elbow. This requirement is in accordance with Table 1 in the standard. This table gives minimum areas of background and coverage areas of the retroreflective material. The width of the retroreflective material to be used according to Table 1; shall not be less than 50mm wide.

Class 2: These garments have superior visibility and are more conspicuous than the Class 1 garments. The minimum width of the retroreflective material used on these is not less than 35mm.

Class 1: These garments need to be conspicuous and use retroreflective materials not less than 25mm in width.

Class E: When hi-visibility pants are worn without other ANSI 107 compliant garments, they are considered Class E. When pants are added to Class 2 or 3 vests or coats the ensemble is considered a Class 3 classification.

There are charts and figures in the standard that give the minimum requirements for retroreflectivity (chromaticity) and luminance (color of vest) combinations that are acceptable. The luminous colors that are used and accepted as long as they meet the minimum standard are fluorescent yellow-green, fluorescent orange-red, and fluorescent red.

The design of the garments and where the tape should be applied is in Appendix B2 of the standard. The garments vary, but can include coveralls, jackets, vests, trousers and sash belts. Section 5.2.2 of the standard has suggested design configurations. For example, 5.2.2a states jackets, waistcoats, vest and ponchos shall be designed to permit maximum visibility of the wearer. 52.2.b states that these garments should have one or more horizontal bands of retroreflective material around the torso and bands of retroreflective material joining the uppermost torso band from the front to the back over each shoulder.

ANSI/ISEA 207-2006

The standard will only affect the Law Enforcement, Emergency Responders, Fire Officials, and DOT Personnel sectors. It will improve the safety in multi-agency incidents by improving visibility and identification. It will reduce confusion and enhance communication between agencies. Basic vest requirements will include:

• Vest Dimensions
• Color: (Red for Fire Officials), (Blue for Law Enforcement), (Green for Emergency Responders), and (Orange for DOT Officials)
• Material Performance
• Special design features for users in fire, emergency medical, and law enforcement
• Higher Visibility (checkered color coded reflective trim)

Some of the notable design features reflect the specific needs of public safety workers such as the need to access belt mounted equipment (gun, radio, CPR barrier mask) and the ability for vests to tear away from the body. The primary distinction of ANSI 207 versus ANSI 107 lies in the amount of fluorescent background material. ANSI 207 requires a minimum of 450 in². This would fall between ANSI 107 Class 1 (217 in²) and Class II (775 in²) garments. The minimum amount of required retroreflective area (207 in²) did not change from ANSI 107 and 207. The difference in fluorescent material allow for design accommodation of equipment belts and for flexibility to incorporate colored panels to enhance easy, on-scene identification of wearers.

New Worker Visibility Standard

On December 16th 2009 the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) in the Federal Register. Section 6D.09 of this rule affects users of high visibility apparel. Significant changes include:

1. MUTCD will now be the primary document mandating the use of high-visibility apparel for all affected workers (public or private) in the United States.
2. 23 CFR Part 634 is now vacated and replaced with section 6D.03 of the 2009 MUTCD. 23 CFR Part 634 required the use of high-visibility apparel for workers within the right-of-way of any Federal-aided highway projects only. The new rule now expands beyond and will cover ALL roads open to public travel. This means any roadway where you can drive a vehicle without passing through a traffic control gate, including private property.
3. Phase-in for compliance on all public roads added by this new rule will be two years, ending December 31, 2011. Federal-aided roads still follow the guidelines of 23 CFR Part 634 until it is superseded after 12/31/2011.
4. Affected workers within the right-of-way will continue to use high-visibility safety apparel that meets performance Class 2 or 3 of ANSI/ISEA 107-2004, or equivalent revisions.
5. High-Visibility apparel garments that meet performance specifications in ANSI/ISEA 207-2006 will still be acceptable option for emergency responders, however, if these affected emergency responders are directly exposed to flame, fire, heat, and/or hazardous materials may wear high-visibility apparel specified and regulated by other organizations, such as the National Fire Protection, Association (NFPA).
6. Hazard assessment conducted by a trained person of the worksite and affected jobs in the worksite.

OSHA Issues Interpretation Letter

On August 5th 2009 OSHA published an interpretation revising their response to use of high-visibility garments worn by construction workers in highway work zones. In this Interpretation letter, OSHA is providing a more comprehensive answer to clarify and expand on OSHA's reasons for concluding that section 5(a)(1) (General Duty Clause) requires construction workers in highway/road construction work zones to be protected from road and construction traffic by wearing high-visibility garments. OSHA determined the need for high-visibility garments based on the FHWA Worker Visibility final rule published in November of 2008.

Sources for More Information

ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 American National Standard for High Visibility Safety Apparel, www.ansi.org

ANSI/ISEA 207-2006 American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Vests, www.ansi.org

2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
http://MUTCD.FHWA.dot.gov

www.OSHA.gov

Commonly Asked Questions

(Rev. 12/2011)

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