From the shopping center parking lot to the school cross-walk to the highway construction zone, you will find workers wearing high-visibility apparel in all kinds of settings. High-visibility apparel can include vests, shirts, bibs, coveralls, jackets, pants, head protection, hand protection and more. These items allow workers to be seen more easily and improve their safety in dangerous conditions such as low lighting, poor visibility or near moving vehicles.
First published in 1999, the voluntary consensus standard, ANSI/ISEA 107-2010, American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear specifies requirements for apparel and headwear that is capable of visually signaling the user’s presence. The standard is recognized and compliance with it is mandated by federal, state and local authorities as well as private industry entities. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires nearly all workers in or near a highway right-of-way to wear garments that comply with the standard. The standard is currently under revision and ISEA anticipates that a revised document will be published by the end of 2015. Consensus review of the proposed update is expected to begin in April 2015.