Hi Visibility Safety Vests

I see safety vests everywhere, partly because they're used everywhere, but partly because I write about safety vests and I'm always on the lookout to where they're being used. The ironic thing about safety vests is, when used properly, and worn regularly, they save lives. but there's no evidence or statistics or reports that speak to, "there would have been an accident had this person not worn a safety vest." The sad thing is, people do still get hurt, and people still do die because the don't wear their safety vests. And accidents do happen that cannot be controlled. Others in the safety industry who also notice who and where hi visibility vests are being used can help by adding to the discussion. One such person is Dave Weber who writes Safety Awakenings. The following is an excerpt from a blog article he wrote entitled 6 New Uses For High Visibility Vests.

Those bright yellow and orange high visibility vests aren’t just for roadway construction crews any more. I’m seeing them worn all over the place in business and industry these days. Employers have discovered that in certain high hazard work areas, it’s a good idea to have employees wear high visibility vests to provide an extra measure of protection.
Below is a listing of six situations that I feel require the wearing of high visibility vests:

• All new production employees should be required to wear safety vests. I successfully implemented such a policy at two different companies. We required new employees to wear the safety vests during the first 30 calendar days that they worked for the company. Management did not have to enforce this policy, because the experienced employees came to believe in the policy so strongly that they enforced the rule themselves!
• Certain handicapped or disabled production employees should be required to wear safety vests. At one company I worked for we had some factory employees who were deaf. The area where they worked was extremely dangerous. If an imminent danger were to occur, the deaf workers could not hear the warning shout, the alarm, or the horn. We required the deaf employees to wear high visibility vests. The other workers would watch out for the vest wearing deaf workers and give them an extra wide berth when working near them.

You can read the rest of the article here.

HiVis Ladies Softshell Jacket

This ANSI Class 2 high visibility soft shell jacket is from Utility Pro designed and sized specifically for ladies - to ensure both comfort and safety. The jacket features a durable, 320 gram fleece bonded polymide shell with fleece lining. The shell fabric is infused with DuPont™ Teflon® fabric protector. The fabric protector helps to resist and repel water grease and mud. The jacket design includes black accents to offer an attractive look. Other features include: hidden collar hood, zippered outside pockets, zipper front closure. Available in high visibility Lime; in sizes S-2XL. ANSI/ISEA 107-2010 Class 2 compliant.
Read the entire article here.

Flagging for Road and Bridge Construction

Per the Florida Department of Tranportation (FDOT) regulations on road and bridge construction, contractors must provide trained flaggers "...to direct traffic where one-way operation in a single lane is in effect and in other situations as required. The Worksite Traffic Supervisor or others as approved by the Department will provide training for flaggers."

Flaggers are often the first line of defense for roadside and highway crews (see poster). Basic skills include:

• The Right Signals for stopping, alerting and allowing traffic to proceed
• The Right Gear Class II or Class III high visibility vests, shirts and foul-weather gear
• The Right Sign Spacing stopping sight distances
• The Right Setup
• The Right Practices
• stand on shoulder in clear view
• always face traffic
• use clear hand signal
• stay alert
• always stand up
• use authorized communication devices
• The Right Training Per jurisdiction

Flaggers must be trained per the MUTCD Section 6E (Flagger Control), and Design Standards Index 600 (Flagging Operations and Night Time Flagging) and (General Information for Traffic Control through Work Zones). The field demonstration shall be a dexterity test using hand-signaling devices (STOP/SLOW paddle and flag) during flagging type operations and placement of traffic control devices.

Instructors may use training videos, handouts, computer based training, or other methods to ensure that the flagger has demonstrated knowledge and proficiency in flagging operations (per FDOT). No formal submittal of this course to the MOTC for review is required. No time requirement is set for the training, but the instructor will be required to keep a record of persons they have successfully trained and the date they were trained.

Go here to order your Know Flagging poster.

Go here to order paddles.

Go to the Workzonesafety.org website for more information including their brochures and fact sheets.