ROADWAY WORKER SAFETYWEAR YOUR HIGH-VISIBILITY CLOTHING

This information and any noted recommendations are advisory only: Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company and the Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund assume no liability for identification or correction of conditions or hazards as the safety and health of employees remain the employer’s responsibility. Not all foreseeable hazards or conditions in need of correction, and not all possible controls to address them, may be listed. Use of all or part of this safety information does not relieve employers of their responsibility to comply with all current and applicable local, state and/or federal laws, regulations, and codes. While the information herein is believed to be current as of the date published, the reader should rely upon the most current standards as laws, codes, and regulations are updated frequently. © Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Mar. 2015

When it comes to keeping workers safe, high-visibility clothing can help save lives. High-visibility

clothing is a type of personal protective equipment (PPE) that has highly reflective properties or a color that is easily discern-ible from any background. Fluorescent yellow cloth-ing is a common example. The American Na-tional Standards Insti-tute (ANSI) published Standard 107 for high-visibility clothing in 1999. The standard defines three classes of successively more visible garments, to protect workers exposed to successively higher levels of risk from motor vehicles and heavy equipment. The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) developed the standard further, with revisions in 2004 and 2010. The ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 standard specifies three classes of activities and the minimum quantity of fluorescent and retro-reflective material to be worn in each class:

Performance Class 1 For occupational activities that permit full and undivided attention to approaching traffic with vehicle and moving equipment speeds not exceeding 25 mph. Examples of

occupational activities for this classification include parking attendants, shopping cart retrievers, warehouse workers with equip-ment traffic, sidewalk maintenance workers, and delivery vehicle drivers.

Performance Class 2 For occupational activities where employees are performing tasks which divert attention from approaching vehicle traffic with mov-ing equipment speeds exceeding 25 mph or work activities taking place in close proxim-ity to traffic. Examples of occupations for this class include railway workers, forestry workers, school crossing guards, airport crews, law enforcement personnel directing traffic, and accident site investigators.

Performance Class 3 For occupational activities where workers are exposed to significantly higher vehicle speeds and/or reduced sight-distances, and the wearer must be conspicuous through the full range of body motions at a minimum of 390 meters [1,279 feet], and must be identified as a person. Examples of occupa-tions for this class include road construc-

tion crews, utility workers, survey crews, emergency response personnel, and flagging crews.

Additional protection for emergency responders

In 2006, ANSI released High-Visibility Public Safety Vests Standard 207, in response to issues raised by public safety officials with respect to the ANSI 107 vest design. Their concerns were both tactical and influenced by a need to differentiate between law enforce-ment/emergency personnel and the vests worn by construction workers. Apparel meeting the ANSI 207 standard for public safety workers, which include law enforcement personnel, firefighters, and other emergency responders, must provide 360-degree visibility both day and night.

For more information on the ANSI standards, go to: http://www.ansi.org/. Some information in this tip sheet was adapted with permission from “How Can We Protect Our ‘Invisible’ Workers?” originally published in Oct. 2012 by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), www.safetyequip-ment.org. Photo credits: Amy Hager, Maryland State Police.

One of the easiest ways to keep workers safe is to make them more visible.

Tow truck drivers

Sanitation workers

BE SEENNOT HURT