Safety Vest

Safety Vests play an important role in keeping workers safe. By promoting visibility, safety vests keep emergency personnel and highway workers safe from drivers on busy highways. Safety vests are also used by runners and bikers to make themselves more visible to motorists.

Safety vests are designed to make the wearer more visible to others. They are made of bright, neon colored fabric and contain reflective tape which reflects the light from the headlights of cars.

The American National Standards Institute classifies safety apparel into three classes. Class 1 safety vests provide minimal amounts of bright and reflective material because they do not make workers stand out from their background as well as Classes 2 and 3, and are not approved as "high visibility." Classes 2 and 3 are considered "high visibility" and are required to be worn by workers on federal road rights-of-way when exposed to traffic or construction.

Safety vests help minimize traffic fatalities, particularly in construction zones. Accidents are reduced because motorists can see the workers with the high-visibility safety vests.

Federal regulations enacted in 2008 extended the requirement of safety vests to include media personnel who are present on federal rights-of-way. Many states have enacted regulations that require the use of safety vests along roads other than federal highways.

Safety vests are not limited to federal work zone workers. Sports enthusiasts, such as joggers and cyclists, can keep themselves safer by wearing reflective clothing and safety vests as well. Most states also require game hunters to wear safety vests so that they may be seen by other hunters.