Hi-vis jackets: what are they and why are they important?

Anybody who has spent time on a building site or in a roadworks location will know that high visibility, or hi-vis for short, is an essential part of the security outfit. They are most often seen in the form of a jacket that is worn by a worker or marshal in order to ensure that they can be seen at night or in circumstances which are otherwise low-visibility.

Usually, they’re either a certain shade of green-yellow, or are glow in the dark, or both – meaning that they can provide visibility no matter what the time of day, or what the weather conditions might look like. This article will look in more depth at what constitutes a hi-vis jacket, and why they’re so important for those who work in the building, construction or road trades.

What is a hi-vis jacket?

Put simply, a hi-vis jacket is a piece of clothing which is designed to help people like road users and others spot the wearer in an environment in which they might not otherwise be seen. Road workers, for example, might use a hi-vis jacket to ensure they do not get accidentally hit by a fast-moving driver as they work on roadworks.

Hi-vis jackets can come in all sorts of colours, and often the colour choice is made based on the circumstances. For reasons that will be outlined below, yellow is one of the most popular colours as it has the best reflective effect. But in other contexts, a different colour might be more suitable. Those who work at sea or on oil rigs are often given orange jackets: bodies of water tend to be very dark, and a shade of orange is the most jarring in comparison in this specific context.

What are they made from?

Hi-vis jackets are put together using a variety of materials that reflect the ultraviolet rays of a light source – and, crucially, do so during periods when there’s not a lot of natural or manmade light in the vicinity.

One sort of material that can be used is a reflective tape made from beads of glass. These are the same beads of glass that can be found crushed up and used in road marking paint: in the hi-vis jacket application, they are instead turned into tape which is sealed into the garment.

There are both pros and cons to using this sort of ingredient. Light isn’t always easily retained: just as glass bead-powered reflective road markings only light up once the headlights of a vehicle get close enough, a hi-vis jacket made from these items does not emit a lot of light. It is, however, cheaper to buy.

Micro-prismatic tape, meanwhile, can be considered the more premium alternative. Instead of beads of glass, this option is instead made from vinyl with a plastic element. Inside this vinyl are some tiny “prisms” – or a small, flat-faced shape. When light hits one of these prisms, they all spring into action and begin refracting it to each other and then outward once again. This outward focus works well as it has the consequence of “pointing” all the light in the same way – which means it remains glowing in the dark for a long time, offering an extra layer of safety and security.

Why are safety jackets important?

The hi-vis jacket dates back around half a century and was especially common with railway workers around the world during the early days of its existence. Since then, however, its popularity – and requirements to wear it – really has expanded. It’s now the case, for example, that here in Australia there is an established standard for what constitutes safe enough hi-vis gear.

There are several different “classes” of hi-vis wear, and it’s important for responsible contractors and employers to ensure they choose the right ones. Those who need to wear their hi-vis gear in the daylight, for example, need to wear a Class D compliant jacket. One of several stipulations for this class is that the light-up part of the material needs to fill 0.4 square metres, or ideally more, of the upper half of the body.

Class N, meanwhile, is specifically designed for use at night. To meet this requirement, the reflective part of the item needs to be 50mm or wider. Both staff who need to wear this sort of gear, and those who employ them, are advised to check out the rules in full to make sure they are compliant.

Buy safety jackets from Jaybro

If you need new high visibility clothing for your team, get in touch with our customer service staff today or browse our website for high vis clothing. We specialise in the civil construction industry, bringing you great products combined with fast, friendly service.