ISEA: High-Vis Public Safety Vests Meet FHWA Requirements for Work Zones

High-visibility protective garments are required for right-of-way workers, flaggers, and adult crossing guards in a document called the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is the basis for federal and state highway regulations. These garments must be compliant with ANSI/ISEA 107, the American National Standard for High Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear.

Public safety workers such as law enforcement, firefighters, and other emergency responders have the option of wearing high-visibility vests specifically designed for their use and compliant with the ANSI/ISEA 207, American National Standard for High-Visibility Public Safety Vests.

A revision to the MUTCD published in December 2009 mandates that public safety vests be labeled as compliant with the 2006 version of the standard, or a subsequent revision. ANSI approved the revision to the standard in 2011, and the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) requested an interpretation from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that garments meeting the new standard would be acceptable, pointing out that the requirements of the two standards for daytime and nighttime visibility are essentially the same.

FHWA has agreed, and issued an official interpretation stating that the ANSI/ISEA 207-2011 standard is equivalent to the 2006 version, and that garments labeled as meeting the 2011 standard would be in compliance with the MUTCD requirements.

This article is a re-print from Feb 07, 2012 - Occupational Health and Safety.

PSV Pro 300 Series Police Vest with Blue Trim

The PSV Pro 300 Series Police vest features a durable mesh material with color coded fabric trim for proper public service department identification; along with a high visibility 2" silver reflective material with contrasting background color. Five point breakaway design; as well as snap up flaps to allow greater accessibility to toolbelts and gear. Each vest includes two chest mic tabs. The vest folds into a convenient pouch for storage. The vest also offers 4-season adjustability to accomodate bulky coats.
Be sure to visit HiVis Supply for all of your hi vis safety vest needs including hi visibility vest for flaggers, hi-vis for incident command and emergency responders.

Street Signs - What you Thought You Knew

Did you know that an "aging population" is taking over the U. S. roadways? Check out these statistics:

• A person 65 years-old needs 4X the amount of light to see at night compared to a 25 year-old.
• By 2025, The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety projects that 1 out of 4 drivers will be 65 or older.
• The larger the sign, and increased retroreflectivity, allows for quicker decision-making for older drivers and faster response times by emergency personnel,  allowing them to more easily read and understand signs thus reducing travel times to emergency situations.
• More than 50 percent of traffic accidents resulting in fatalities occur at night. Increased retroreflectivity helps to address this issue.

Street Signs

There are no requirements to replace “perfectly good signs” with new signs because of the mixed case standard. The requirements for mixed case letters in street signs generally apply when signs are replaced because of normal wear and tear. Thus, there is no added cost associated with this requirement.

Many media reports are factually incorrect when they state that signs must be replaced by January 2012. The only requirement for this date is that roadway owners have a sign management plan in place.

In 2000, the MUTCD established recommendations for minimum letter heights on street name signs. The MUTCD recommends 6” initial letter height for roads with speed limits of 40 mph or less with an option of 4” initial letter height for streets with speed limit 25 mph or less. Agencies need to evaluate and decide by January 2012 whether or not to use the recommended letter height or use an engineering study or engineering judgment to decide that a smaller letter height is acceptable.

In 2003, the MUTCD added a recommendation for letter heights of street name signs on multilane roads with speed limits greater than 40 mph. The MUTCD recommends 8” initial letter heights for post mounted and 12” letter height for overhead street name signs. Agencies need to evaluate and decide by December 2018 whether or not to use the recommended letter height or use an engineering study or engineering judgment to decide that a smaller letter height is acceptable.

Brilliant Series Class 2 Heavy Duty Vest

The Brilliant Series vests from ML Kishigo provide maximum visibility with a high visibility background material and 2" wide VizLite reflective tape with contrasting color, making it ANSI/ISEA 107 Class 2 compliant. This vest also utilizes Brilliant Trim reflective edging which considerably improves the vest's low light visibility. The reflective piping improves recognition of the wearer by distinguishing their silhouette from the other stationary objects around them. The vest is constructed of a durable and breathable 100% polyester mesh. Vest features include: zipper closure, mic tabs on chest, 2-tier pencil pocket, flapped radio pocket, inside patch pockets, outside cargo pockets with adjustable flaps, and reinforced webbing for added strength. Available in both high visibility Lime or Orange. Sizes M-5XL.

HiVis Supply is a reseller of high visibility apparel including hivis vests, ANSI Class 2 and ANSI Class 3 for a variety of job duties like mining, surveying, forestry and power generator construction.