Tagged with 'ANSI/ISEA 107-2010'

ANSI 107 FOR Hi Vis Gets Updated for 2010

Nov 14, 2012

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

About Hi-Visibility Clothing

Nov 14, 2012

Construction workers and emergency services personnel, along with cyclists and joggers most commonly wear high-visibility clothing. You can find high-visibility clothing in most stores and catalogs that sell work wear or bicycle equipment. Such hi-vis apparel enables people to see the wearer in poor lighting conditions or while on the job, to prevent accidents. One of the most traditional forms of this product, a fluorescent orange or yellow vest with reflective stripes, makes the wearer stand out at night.

ANSI Class 3 Lightweight Waterproof Rain Jackets

In the United States, high-visibility safety clothing must meet standards created by ANSI/ISEA, which mandate as of 2010 that "a garment's background material, and retro reflective or combined-performance material, must be tested and certified by an independent, accredited third-party laboratory." Makers of such clothing must verify and certify that the apparel meets the standards.

In the 1930's, 3M realized that spherical beads that made the silver screen silver could create a reflective strip of paint, and then tape. In 1968, brothers Hugh and Bill Rowland at the Reflexite company began processing reflective sheeting using small cube-cornered prisms, instead of spheres. Both shapes remain in use to this day.

The fluorescent color makes the wearer visible during the day, while the reflective strips make it more likely the motorists will see him at night, increasing his safety. A 2004 paper in the British Medical Journal showed that motorcyclists were 37% less likely to be in an accident when wearing fluorescent and reflective clothing. And, according to high-visibility vest seller ICU-UCMe, nighttime motorists see a vest wearer approximately three seconds earlier than they see someone not wearing a vest. Emergency services personnel wear high-visibility clothes to be clearly seen in dark or smoky conditions.

High-visibility clothing comes in three classes, determined by the American National Standards Institute and International Safety Equipment Association (ANSI/ISEA). Class I garments, typically worn by parking lot attendants, attract motorists' attention, while Class II garments meet higher visibility needs, with employers typically providing them for people such as airport baggage handlers. Class III, the most effective type, ranks as the highest visibility clothing, often used by emergency services.

Hi-Vis Supply can serve all of your hi-vis apparel needs including the Black Series Windbreaker by ML Kishigo.

This article came from Effectiveness of High Visibility Clothing by Ishbel Macleod, eHow Contributor updated: July 06, 2010