When is High Visibility Workwear Necessary?

High visibility polos, jackets and vests are all workwear staples. High visibility clothing makes the wearer more visible by using a fluorescent base colour, such as green or yellow, with light reflective horizontal stripes. Workwear is used in a variety of industries to improve the safety of workers, but when exactly is this type of workwear needed?

• Night: The retro-reflective stripes on industrial workwear make the wearer visible even in very low light conditions. Retro-reflective means that light is reflected back to its source with very little scattering of light. This means that the wearer will be easily identifiable to viewers close to a light source, such as the headlights on a car, making high visibility vests and jackets perfect for use in roadwork’s or road emergencies in low light.
• Poor weather Conditions: Workwear which are highly visible also improves the safety of workers in poor weather conditions, such as mist, rain or fog. Workers on constructions sites often need to keep working through harsh weather conditions to keep to a projected timetable. High visibility clothing is necessary in these cases to ensure that operators of heavy machinery are aware of the other people around the work site. Highly visible workwear can prevent injuries and even fatalities in the work environment.
• Emergency Services: Members of the police are required to wear high visibility workwear at all times when not engaged in direct law enforcement activities. Similarly, paramedics need to wear high visibility workwear when attending an emergency. The wearing of these industrial workwear in emergencies and accidents is essential because there are usually a significant amount of hazards present, such as fast-moving vehicles or unstable structures.
• Recreational Uses: The uses for highly visible industrial workwear are not just limited to the work place, however. This type of clothing is also necessary for some recreational activities, such as cycling, hiking, and sailing. These industrial workwear is useful in any situation where visibility can become limited; there is a danger present from machinery or heavy vehicles, or where the wearer may need to be found by emergency services.
• Fashion: Highly visible workwear has also served as an inspiration for fashion designers and those looking to make a striking fashion statement. Fluorescent colours and reflective stripes have been used in many fashion campaigns as attention-grabbing techniques. Fashionable designs that mimic high visibility workwear more closely have also been made to promote the use of highly visible clothing for safety in situations such as road accidents.