Hi-Vis uniforms, everything you need to know about hi-vis.
Why, Where and How you need the high visibility apparel? This article will answer all your questions about high visibility.
When should you wear a high visibility clothing?
Among all the apparels, the reflective apparel is the only one specially designed for safety, so that the user can obtain a safer working environment in harsher conditions by enhanced visibility. Ansi class safety uniforms are widely used in industrial, electric power, construction, transportation, maintenance, road workers and other environments.
What is the purpose of a high visibility work wear?
High visibility clothing is most used to alert drivers and other equipment operators of their location. It is critical in hazardous conditions such as close to roads, dark conditions and areas where workers may be blocked by trees, traffic barriers or construction equipment.
How does a high visibility work?
The reflective part of the high visibility clothing is made by the use of the micro-rhombus of the lattice to produce refraction, the retro-reflection principle of glass microbeads with high refractive index by advanced technology after focusing. It can reflect the direct light from a distance back to the light-emitting place, and good retro-reflection optical performance in day and night. Especially enhanced visibility at night, it can exert (show its inner ability) as high visibility as during the day.
The safety clothing made of high-visibility reflective material can be easily detected whether the wearer is far away or under the interference of light or scattered light. The emergence of reflective materials has successfully solved the safety of users in low visibility situations.
What is high-visibility uniforms made of?
High visibility clothing can divide into 2 parts, first is functional clothing fabrics, second is reflective tapes. Functional clothing fabrics have: waterproof, oil resistant, stain resistant, anti static, flame-retardant, etc., Due to different condition and specific requirement, we are using different fabrics to make to final garments.
Ansi class safety vests usually have color in yellow, orange, green, lime, red, and blue. I have write in another article about high visibility colors, you can read if interested.
How many classes of hi-vis apparel are there?
There are mainly 3 Ansi class of safety apparels, Due to the high visibility size divide to Class 1, Class 2, Class 3. Ansi Class 1 is the lowest requirement, ansi class 3 is the highest standard in high visibility industry. How to choose the right and competitive safety apparels for work, I have another article about difference on ANSI Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3.
Reflective cloth can be roughly divided into ordinary reflective cloth, bright reflective cloth and bright silver reflective cloth according to brightness, composite technology and color.
What makes a hi vis reflective?
Reflective cloth mostly have below 4 types:
1 Chemical fiber fluorescence cloth
2 TC fluorescence cloth
3 Fame retardant fluorescence cloth
4 Elastic fluorescence cloth, etc
The chemical fiber fluorescence fabric uses 100% chemical fiber, mostly in 190T polyester, it is lighter and thinner than the TC fabric.
TC fluorescence fabric mostly use 35% cotton and 65% polyester blend fabric, it is thicker than chemical fiber.
Flame retardant fluorescence cloth has cotton flame retardant cloth and aramid flame retardant cloth. The cotton flame retardant fabric uses 100% cotton fabric with flame retardant finishing as the base fabric, cost is lower more economical. The aramid flame retardant fabric uses aramid fabric as the base fabric, which is inherently flame retardant and suitable for fire-fighting garment with extremely high flame retardant requirements.
The elastic fluorescence fabric is made of spandex and chemical fiber blended fabric as the base fabric, which has a certain elasticity and is suitable for sewing on various elastic fabrics.
I have another article about reflective tape, you can read here How to choose the reflective tape correctly.
High visibility clothing Types
According to the style of high visibility safety clothing, we have: high visibility vest, high visibility T-shirt (high visibility polo shirt), high visibility jacket, high visibility pants, high visibility shirt, high visibility jumpsuit, etc.
According to the use of safety clothing, we have: hi vis raincoat, sanitation worker hi vis clothing, hi vis cycling apparel, hi vis school uniform, hi vis casual clothing, hi vis traffic garment, hi vis police uniform, hi vis outdoor sports wear, hi vis labor protection garment, hi vis overalls, hi vis industrial uniforms, etc.
1. hi vis Jacket
When we customize hi vis clothing for your team, consideration work environment is always paramount. Different environments use different clothing and functions to ensure work comfort, safe and improve work efficiency.
For example, do they need to work in wet environments? Do they need to work in heavy rain? Or are they using electric welding and doing flammable and explosive work?
According to the different work environments, it is necessary to choose suitable functional fabrics, and the correct use of fabrics can effectively protect the safety of workers.
Fabric functions are mainly divided into waterproof, anti-static, acid resistant and alkali resistant, flame retardant, tear resistant, etc.
In addition, comfort should also be considered when designing. When designing fabrics with poor air permeability, it is necessary to enhance the air permeability of hi vis apparel, which is cooler and more comfortable to wear, and is more conducive to concentrating on work; if thick fabrics are used, the weight of the whole garment needs to be considered, and the circuit working at a height of 200 meters It is never a good idea for workers to wear 1kg clothes.
2. hi vis vests
Most of the hi vis vests on the market use 100% polyester oxford and 100% polyester mesh, the hi vis material is reflective lattice or high-brightness reflective cloth; the main types are polyester reflective vest, polyester fluorescent reflective vest, polyester high bright vest, polyester pvc lattice vest, polyester knitted vest, polyester woven vest, polyester fluorescent mesh vest, polyester fluorescent mesh high-brightness vest, polyester fluorescent mesh high-brightness police vest, Polyester fluorescent mesh tank top.
It is mainly suitable for police officers, road administrators, traffic commanders, road maintenance, personnel drivers of motorcycles and bicycles, workers in dark light and other local workers who need to use light to warn.
3. HI VIS Shirts
Shirts are usually worn on the bottom or middle layer, the most important is comfortable and breathable. Choose moisture-wicking fabrics for your highlight shirts will keep workers dry, comfortable on the job, keep them focused, and reduce accidents and injuries.
Provide the team with a variety of safety shirts that match their preferences, which will ensure that this important piece of safety equipment is always on. You should consider a variety of options based on the environment your team faces throughout the year, such as short-sleeved shirts that keep the team cool in the hot weather and long-sleeved shirts in cold weather.
4. How to properly configure reflective strips for hi vis clothing in compliance with EN20471-2013
When EN ISO 20471 replaced EN471 in 2013, several improvements were made to the high visibility standard. The new standard makes a stronger distinction between different types of risky situations, and each employee can determine the need for the level of protection based on their own situation.
5. Why choose heyday?
A. With many years of experience in reflective clothing design and production, we are able to design reflective clothing that fully meets requirements, with comfort and durability.
B. We can provide the EN20471-2013 certificate of reflective tapes to ensure that the reflective clothing provided for you meets the safety requirements; if you are a trader, the certificate will be very helpful for you to develop customers.
C. We are easy to contact, we will reply you in the shortest time; with years of production experience, we will quickly complete the quotation.
