Visibility Vests to Keep You Safe. What does high visibility clothing do in PPE?

Performing any kind of activity in a dark environment or at a workplace such as construction or factory with heavy machinery increases the dangers to your safety. To avoid putting yourself at such a risk you should wear appropriate high visibility clothes, whose main purpose is, obviously, to make you more visible. These pieces of clothing are also worn by workers who perform some actions near moving vehicles, for example drivers, road workers, and construction workers.

Visibility, aka reflective, vests are made of fluorescent material in lime green, yellow, or orange color to stand out against the surroundings. The vests usually have attached reflective tape or markers, to enhance the visibility during the darker hours of the day and reflect the light of moving cars and other vehicles.

In many industries around the world wearing visibility vests is required by law, especially in construction or roadwork. With the simple action of putting the vest on, the worker shows commitment to the workplace and safety and further promotes safety culture at the workplace. However, it’s the employer’s duty to provide the vests for the employees free of charge and provide training and information so that they can understand the dangers of not wearing the given PPE item.

Apart from workers the visibility vests can be also worn by cyclists, traffic police officers, motor cyclists, or even someone who has to change their tire on the side of a dark road.

Visibility vests are an important form of PPE as they prevent accidents and consequently severe injuries or death by making the wearer more visible so the others can easily avoid them. They are vital items of PPE especially for road workers or workers of machinery, because the vests alert the drivers or other workers/operators of their presence.

The visibility vests will make you more visible and reduce the risk of accidents thus improving everyone’s safety on the road or at the workplace. A seemingly unnecessary item, but it could save you from a lot of problems.