High visibility clothing reduces the risk of accidents and fatalities in busy environments where there is vehicular traffic: on public roads, in construction areas, marshalling yards and other industrial premises. At locations such as these, high visibility workwear and other PPE (personal protective equipment) are required by the Health and Safety regulations. Hi Vis clothing used on the workplace has to be compliant with the EN ISO 20471 standard: it imposes requirements on visible workwear for employees in high-risk areas and is divided into three classes. Discover Telenco store wide range of High visibility clothing for professionals.

What is the difference between class 1, 2 and 3 reflective clothing?

Class 1 Hi Vis clothing offers the lowest protection level and should only be worn by workers who work at a safe distance from the roadways: the minimum fluorescent material is 0.14m sq. and the minimum retroreflective material is 0.10m sq.

If working on or near standard roads or medium risk environments, workers should wear Class 2 Hi-vis clothing at least: the minimum fluorescent material is 0.5m sq. and the minimum retroreflective material 0.13m sq. It is the minimum required when you are on a public road.

Class 3 high visibility clothing offers the highest level of visibility. Class 3 clothes are for workers that are close to high-traffic areas, including site inspectors, emergency responders, railway workers, and utility crews, where traffic may exceed 50 mph. In these situations, workers should be as visible as possible to prevent injury. Class 3 can be achieved in 2 ways:

• by wearing an individual garment rated as class 3
• or by wearing jointly certified products that make up class 3 based on the total area of fluorescent and reflective material

For every class of hi-vis clothing, bands of retroreflective material shall not be less than 50mm wide.

Which high visibility clothing should you wear on your worksite?

For some jobs an HV waistcoat, for example, may be all that is needed. However, workers who are particularly at risk from moving vehicles may need full body Hi Vis clothing so that they are as visible as possible to the driver.

The HSE states that HV clothing should provide adequate protection both during the day and at night, as well as in adverse weather: the darker the conditions on worksite, the greater the amount of Hi Vis clothing required.

Telenco store offers a full catalogue of reflective jackets, vests, coats, trousers and many more PPE items so field engineers can safely perform their tasks.