High Visibility for Children/Officers Around the World

Children

They're already doing it in Grimsby (Somerset, England) - donning high visibility safety vests going to and from school. Holly, Theo and Billy Joe think the initiative is "a good idea." It may not be high fashion but a garment to make school pupils visible is aiming to reduce road accidents.

"It is an effective solution to reducing accidents. It's around about 30% or higher reduction in the number of children getting involved in a [road] accident.
"I think the visibility coats are a good idea because when it's dark and if you're coming home from school people will see you crossing the road and in the fog people will see you. So they're very useful. "And also they keep you warm in the snow," added Theo.

A Gloucestershire headline reads "Gloucestershire road safety figures lowest since 1974," and they're attributing these statistics to the increased use of hi-vis apparel along with "targeted road safety advice and training is working across the board," said Councillor Stan Waddington, cabinet member for road safety. Child safety is a leading issue in the US. - children wear safety helmets while riding bikes, so why not high visibility apparel to boot?

Well, at least at Halloween. The Maryland State Highway Administration made reflective safety vests available to parents and guardians of children to help prevent pedestrian accidents involving vehicles on Halloween, according to a news release from the agency (see "Reflective safety vests available for Halloween"). Representative Neil J. Pedersen said, “Unfortunately, on average, about 100 pedestrians are killed every year in traffic crashes in our state.”

Officers
During an inquest of a fatality of an officer in Auckland, the court was told that Mr. Wootton was not wearing a reflectorized safety jacket when he went to lay the spikes, most likely because he only had a matter of seconds to act. Although it was not known if a jacket would have changed the outcome for Mr Wootton, reports from the Department of Labour and the Independent Police Conduct Authority both recommended police review the policy for wearing the jackets.
The Department of Labour said it appeared that the requirement for the jackets to be worn was well known, but was not adhered to by all officers, with some saying they felt making themselves more visible might make them a target. However, Mr Smith said he did not believe there should be an option for officers not to wear them. "If an officer cannot safely wear a jacket and have time to deploy the road spikes safely, then they should simply abandon the exercise," he said.

Local councillor Roger Guy told BBC Radio's "Good Morning Scotland" program "the police cannot be everywhere, all the time." He added: "So if people in the communities are genuinely anxious about speeding motorists in their villages, or their neighborhood, then we're calling on them to volunteer." The BBC also reports that when residents of local towns are upset by constant speeding in their area, they should be willing to volunteer to shoot radar "Volunteers in high visibility vests to trap speeders." Chief Inspector John McDonald of Fife Constabulary said "road safety is everyone's concern." He said there had been "absolutely tremendous progress" in reducing road casualties across Fife in the past five years.

HiVis Supply is proud to offer high visibility apparel for a variety of job duties and officers and children around the world. HiVis Supply offers great savings and product selection for helping you maintain a safe and OSHA/ANSI compliant work environment and keeping those closest to you safe throughout the year. If you're looking for discounted safety equipment or identification products on sale, visit our web specials page or sign up for our email promotions.

ML Kishigo Featured in Inc. Magazine

For 30+ years, ML Kishigo has been developing smarter safety and high-vis apparel products that meet customers' specialized needs. They don't just meet standards in safety and high-vis apparel - they exceed them. Kishigo prides themselves in continual innovation, quality control checks and rigorous testing. ML Kishigo is your choice for traffic, construction, surveyor, public safety/incident command, fire-resistant, industrial, clean room and other high-visibility needs. Recently, ML Kishigo was features in the October issue of Inc. Magazine. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Safety vest - High-visibility vests are a must for airport ground crews, given that jet noise and protective ear coverings make it difficult to hear danger approaching. The bright-yellow color and reflective stripes on this vest, custom made for Delta by M.L. Kishigo in Santa Ana, California, help keep workers out of harm's way. CEO Loren Wall founded the company in 1973 and named it after his late wife, Mary Lou Kishigo. It has 95 employees and makes a full line of safety clothing for the construction, energy, and public safety industries.

HiVis Supply is proud to offer high visibility apparel for a variety of job duties like roadside construction, manufacturing, plant assembly, mining, surveying, forestry, power generator construction, shipyard construction, warehouse and facility maintenance, utilities department, sewer maintenance, electrical line construction, wind energy construction, ethanol and oil refinery and many others. HiVis Supply offers great savings and product selection for helping you maintain a safe and OSHA/ANSI compliant work environment. 

Hi Vis News from Around the World

Australia - New Honda road bike customers receive high visibility vest
Honda have long been advocates for motorcycle safety and are now giving away branded, high visibility vests with every new Honda motorcycle in an effort to address visibility issues all motorcyclists have to contend with.
The high quality design also offers a front zip closure as opposed to a standard velcro closure, with Honda logos on both front and back.
The vest is packaged in a Honda printed pouch with a recommended retail value of around $25.
“We have been considering for some time the most practical way that we can help riders to be safer on the road,” said Honda Australia’s General Manager, Motorcyles, Tony Hinton.
“Visibility is often noted as a factor in crashes involving cars and motorcyclists, and this is an area where we can encourage riders to do as much as possible to be seen, day or night.”
“We are seeing more and more riders wearing high vis clothing and vests, and felt that it would be an excellent value add item for anyone purchasing one of our motorcycles.”
Any customer who purchases a road registerable motorcycle across the Honda range from any dealer nationally will receive a vest.
Click here to read the original story.

 Spanish prostitutes wear yellow bibs to avoid police fines

Roadside prostitutes working on a roundabout outside the Spanish city of Lleida have begun wearing yellow reflective bibs to avoid fines from police.
The prostitutes have donned the high visibility vests, similar to those worn by road workers or drivers whose cars have broken down, to save themselves the €40 (£36) fines.
Police said they were not trying to get rid of the prostitutes, but were simply including them in a push to enforce use of the fluorescent bibs, which must be worn by anyone walking down a rural highway.
A police spokesman said: "In the past couple of months the prostitutes have been fined for two reasons: for not wearing the reflective jacket and for creating danger on the public highway."
Police say they have no other reason for fining the prostitutes, whose chosen spot on a roundabout of the LL-11 road falls just outside the municipal boundaries of Lleida – which recently banned street prostitution.
The move comes amid a wider debate over prostitution in Spain, where it thrives in a context that is part legal and part illegal. Scantily-clad sex workers can be seen on roads outside many cities, although only those in Lleida are believed to wear reflective jackets.
Click here to read the original story.

A Hi Vis Winter

Based on the National Weather Service’ Climate Prediction Center, here is a summary of the main factors which usually influence seasonal climates:

• El Nino and La Nina
• Trends – Approximated by the Optimal Climate Normals (OCN) Tool – difference between the most recent 10-year mean temperature or 15-year mean of precipitation and the 30-year climatology Period (currently 1971-2000)
• The Tropical 30-60 DAY oscillation – otherwise called the Madden Julian
• The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) And the Pacific North American (PNA) patterns
• The Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO)
• Persistently dry or wet soil in the summer and snow ice cover anomalies acting as a kind of memory system
• Statistical forecast tools
• Dynamical forecast models
• Consolidation (CON) - Makes optimum use of the known skills in our forecast tools

Based on the numbers provided, here are some of the November December January (NDJ) 3-month temperature outlooks:

• Below average temps over much of Alaska, Washington and coastal regions of Oregon and California
• The 3-month precipitation outlook calls for above average median precipitation almost through the Mississippi Valley
• In locations where the likelihoods of seasonal mean temps and rainfall are similar to probabilities, equal chances of low, mean, or high averages are likely

For graphical displays of forecasts http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

 National Weather Service’ Climate Prediction Center http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/90day/fxus05.html  

Hi Vis Supply has a full line of high visibility winter jackets and rain gear for the winter months.

ANSI 107 FOR Hi Vis Gets Updated for 2010

The beginning of 2010 marked the highly anticipated revision to the 107-2004 High Visibility Standard. This Standard is updated every 5 years and is now labeled ANSI/ISEA 107-2010. It specifies performance requirements for high visibility safety apparel and headwear PPE. Specific performance requirements are included for:

• Color
• Retro-reflection and minimum areas
• Recommended configurations of the materials and design

Below is an outline of the primary differences between ANSI/ISEA107-2010, and the previous ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 Standard.

GARMENT DESIGN AND REFLECTIVE PLACEMENT - A class 1 or a class 2 garment must now have reflective material in the shoulder area, which provides greater visibility when a worker is bending over, or at angles that could be potentially missed on a garment without “vertical” reflective material over the shoulders.

FLAME RESISTANT (FR) LABELING - The 107-2004 standard did not address flame resistant labeling. ANSI 107-2010 requires all flame resistant garments to be tested within at least 1 of 7 ASTM or NFPA test methods, including a description of the flame resistance criteria. If a manufacturer wants to mark high visibility apparel as being FR, the garment must meet one of the FR tests in the 107-2010 Standard and certify its conformance to the FR requirement. For specific test methods, a copy of the new 107-2010 Standard can be purchased directly from the ISEA.

RAINWEAR – There have been new testing requirements added for rainwear. Three different test methods will define rainwear as either water repellant, water resistant or water proof.

GARMENT SERVICE LIFE GUIDELINES - ANSI 107-2010 also attempts to help users determine garment service life. Areas to consider are:

• garment use
• type of garment
• environment
• laundering methods
• exposure to the environment

In addition, it references the U.S. Federal Highway Administration statement about high-visibility life expectancy. (Federal Register/Vol. 71 No. 226/Friday, November 24, 2006/rules and regulations/p. 67798

Hi-Vis Bombers

With America's infrastructure in the process of receiving a much needed facelift, there is also a growing need for more highway and roadside workers. Even while highway worker fatalities have decreased each year since 2007 (from almost 1,250 to nearly 750) safer work zones are absolutely necessary to keep this positive trend.

Fundamental issues for increasing highway worker safety include:

trained workers - for engaging in high-traffic and setting up control devices

planning - routes, spotters and utility areas to avoid

speed control - flaggers, postings, law enforcement

lighting - for working at night

separation devices - use based on speed and alignment of traffic pattern

hi-visibility apparel - for differentiation from traffic, equipment and at hard to see times (dusk and dawn)

Workers need gear such as these water-repellent bombers that keep you warm, dry and visible. What's more, they're ANSI/ISEA 107 Class 3 compliant - meaning their usable in the most high speed conditions. These economy jackets are designed with a "stow-away" hidden collar hood and four pockets - 2 outside pockets, including a chest radio pocket and a right chest multi-use pocket with a zipper closure for extra warmth. Great protection and a great value.

High Visibility for End of Summer

Stay cool and protect yourself from the sun with an ANSI Class 3 Micro-Fiber long sleeve shirt. This shirt features Ultra-Cool™ micro-fiber polyester material with 2" wide Super Lite silver reflective stripes and (1) left breast pocket. Available in Lime and Orange; M-5XL.
ANSI Class 3 garments allow a worker full range of duties while keeping them safe when working with backgrounds not conducive to good visibility. Class 3 visibility surpasses Class 2 with background and retro-reflective reflective material added to the arms and/or legs – for areas with vehicle speeds above 50 mph.

These garments are designed for vehicles and equipment to be able to fully identify a workers complete body. This new ANSI Class 3 standard defining body requirement is in support of the MUTCD definition of night time and inclement conditions.

ANSI Class 3 apparel is typically used by roadway construction personnel and flaggers, utility workers, survey crews and emergency response personnel - in dangerous conditions with high-speed driving, equipment, large operations and nighttime viewing.

HiVisSupply is dedicated to serving those men and women who continuously and courageously work in hazardous conditions for the sake, ease and benefit of others.