Waste Safety, Transportation Safety Apparel

Safety Information

Understanding the ANSI 107-2004 Standard

The ANSI 107-2004 standard has established simple, yet effective guidelines for High-Visibility Safety Apparel. These guidelines help employers select the class of garment based on several factors, including the worker's activities and the level of risk in the worker's environment. Because these guidelines have proven to be effective and reliable, many organizations have chosen to adopt them to ensure employee safety. One such entity, the Louisiana Department of Transportation, has adopted Class 2 specifications for their employees, and other organizations are certain to follow their lead.

The components of the ANSI standard are very specific. The material and reflective must fall within a test range that meets a color brightness. The material must also meet a non-transparent standard.

The ANSI standard falls into three categories: Class 1, with the lowest visibility requirement, Class 2, for medium visibility requirements, and Class 3, for the highest visibility requirements.



Class 1 Lower visibility requirements for workers who are well separated from traffic.
	Vehicle and equipment speeds under 25 mph. Parking lot and warehouse environments.

Most vests will meet this class and some reflective harnesses can meet Class 1 if they are made with certified fluorescent material and/or have the specified amount of reflective.




Class 2 Medium visibility requirements for workers who are on and/or near roadways.
Traffic speeds from 25 to 50 mph Higher traffic levels or more congestion than Class 1. Workers in urban/suburban areas including road construction, utility and survey crews, EMS workers, traffic police and railway workers.

Class 2 requires more fluorescent material and reflective than Class 1, but most regular vests will meet Class 2 if they are made with certified fluorescent material and have the specified amount of reflective.




Class 3 Highest visibility requirements for workers in high-risk situations who need to be visible through a full range of body motions from a minimum distance of 1,280 feet.
	Traffic speeds over 50 mph. Workers on highways/freeways including road construction & maintenance utility and survey crews, EMS & railway workers.

Class 3 requires the most fluorescent material and reflective. The intention of the Class 3 standard is to provide full body coverage for maximum visibility.

Background material is an important component of the ANSI standard. Both lime-yellow and red-orange standard background materials are available. However, the April 2000 issue of Utility Safety states that the lime-yellow fluorescent color provides better visibility to distinguish humans in the cluttered work zone. Furthermore, a red/green colorblind person (which includes a large portion of males) sees orange fluorescent as black in sodium light, which is increasing in usage on some roadways. The lime-yellow fluorescent color is seen more clearly and more brightly than the orange fluorescent color. The more visible the workers are against the background, the better they are seen in a real accident situation. The visibility of the background material, coupled with the appropriate amount of retroreflective material, ensures that your employees will have the highest visibility for any given situation.

Although this is voluntary and you are not mandated to follow the ANSI standard, make sure you have a risk assessment if you choose not to follow these guidelines. Otherwise, it could be construed as negligence if one of your employees gets injured while on the job.