Safety Vests
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) combine to set the standards for high-visibility apparel for those working near dangerous areas. The standards, which were updated in 2007, include recommendations for minimum reflective material, where the reflective material can be located and where special features can be located.
Who Wears the Vests
These high visibility vests are meant for people who work close to moving traffic and construction equipment, including policemen and firemen working accidents, construction workers on roadway projects or construction workers on buildings close to busy roads and urban areas.
What Makes These Vests High Visibility?
It's the material they're made out of. The background material is typically made from a fluorescent color that allows the vest to be visible in all conditions. The retroflective material sends light back to drivers to let them know there's someone near the roadway. Then there's combined performance material, which combines the background and retroflective materials. Manufacturers use the CPM to help meet the minimum standards for reflective material, and that material helps divide these materials into several classes.
Performance Class 1
These are the least visible types of these vests and are not considered acceptable for those working in roadway conditions because they use only the minimum amounts of material (217 square inches of background material, 155 square inches of retroflective or CPM with background material, or 310 square inches of CPM without background material).
Performance Class 2
Performance Class 2 vests require 755 square inches of the background material or retroflective or CPM with background material equaling 201 square inches. These higher standards make this vest more visible in daylight, and offer the wearer more coverage in the torso area. This is the minimum needed to work on federal highway projects. These vests are also worn by those performing mowing, inspection, surveying, toll collection or incident response duties.
Performance Class 3
The Class 3 vests are required to have 1,240 square inches of background material or retroflective or CPM with background material equal to 310 square inches. Reflective material is also added to the arms and the legs. These vests are best for work in highly congested areas, when there are no barriers between workers and the roadway, and for roadwork at night. Flaggers, emergency crews that work at night and emergency responders wear these vests.
Performance Class E
Performance Class E is considered either pants or shorts that are made with the same reflective materials as the vests. These garments can be used in conjunction with a Class 2 or 3 vest for working during busy roadway conditions. Class E apparel is required to have 465 square inches of background material, or retroflective or CPM combined with background material equal to 108 square inches.
Tags: background material, square inches, Performance Class, inches background, inches background material