HIGH
VISIBILITY CLOTHING

The EN ISO 20471:2013 has replaced the former standard EN 471:2004 + A1:2007 with effect from October 2013.

The EN ISO 20471 : 2013 specifies requirements for the high visibility clothing which is capable of visually signaling the user’s presence.

The area requirements for background materials, retro-reflective materials and combined performance materials with three classes of garments are as under:

Minimum areas of visible material in m²
	Class3	Class2	Class1
Background material	0.80	0.50	0.14
Retro-reflective material	0.20	0.13	0.10
Combined material	-----	-----	0.20

As per the standard all class 3 garments must cover the torso and have as a minimum either sleeves with retro reflective bands or full length trouser legs with retro reflective bands. This ends the possibility to CE mark sleeveless class 3 garments. If a short sleeve is covering a torso band, retro-reflective tape must be fitted on the sleeve.

It is now also possible to CE mark separate garments together to fulfill a requirement for a certain performance class. This is achieved by a so called clothing ensemble: e.g. by certifying jackets and trousers together. The standard permits a Class 2 Jacket & Class 1 Trouser to be combined and certified as a Class 3 ensemble.

The 3 high visibility colours (fluorescent yellow, orange-red and red) with respective colour coordinates and luminance factors remain unchanged :

Colour	Chromatic Coordinates
Yellow	X		0.387	0.356	0.398	0.460
	Y	0.610	0.494	0.452	0.540
	Minimun luminance factor 0.76
Red-orange	X		0.610	0.535	0.570	0.655
	Y	0.390	0.375	0.340	0.345
	Minimun luminance factor 0.40
Red	X		0.655	0.570	0.595	0.690
	Y	0.345	0.340	0.315	0.310
	Minimun luminance factor 0.25

Two or more fluorescent colors are allowed on a garment together e.g. both yellow and orange background material can be used to make a single garment. Both colors will contribute to the minimum required area to define the garment class. The background (fluorescent) material must encircle all relevant parts (torso, arms and legs, as appropriate) with a minimum width of 50 mm.

Colorfastness to Perspiration (staining) increased from Grade 3 to Grade 4. Colorfastness to Washing (staining) decreased from Grade 4-5 to Grade 4.

The Tensile Strength requirement for woven fabrics has been reduced from 400 N to 100 N, and the ‘tensile/mass’ index requirement of ≥ 2 has been removed.

The Bursting Strength for knitted fabrics has been reduced from 800 kPa to 100 kPa for area 50 cm² or 200 kPa for area 7.3 cm².

The minimum Tear Strength requirement for coated and laminated fabrics with elongation ≤ 50% has been reduced from 25 N to 20 N.

This standard specifies the types, classes and color of high-visibility safety apparel required by workers exposed to traffic hazards and also provides guidelines for the selection and use of high-visibility safety apparel such as vests, shirts, rainwear, outerwear, pants, headwear and other high-visibility accessories to improve workers’ safety.

The ANSI/ISEA 107 Standard provides performance specification details for materials used in the construction of high-visibility apparel and includes specific test procedures for background materials, retroreflective and combined-performance materials. The standard also provides criteria for apparel design, care labeling, general marking and instruction for use requirements. The new edition continues to identify three performance classes of garments depending on the amount of visible materials and design attributes incorporated into the final configuration and identifies garments types based on expected use settings and work activities being performed.

There are a few major changes and noteworthy differences in the 2015 version, such as the addition of “Types” to garment descriptions, a “smallest size” offering, expansion of the scope for accessories including headwear, gloves and armbands, specifies labeling requirements to identify the garment by type, performance class and by its flame resistance characteristics as defined in the standard. Additional examples of garment configurations to illustrate compliant and non-compliant designs have been added.

Highlights of the major changes for ANSI/ISEA 107-2015:

New High-Visibility Safety Apparel (HVSA) Types

Type O – Off-road (Non Roadway)
Type R – Roadway
Type P – Public Safety (ANSI 207 merged)

New HVSA Class Definitions

Type O – Class 1
Type R – Class 2 and Class 3
Type P – Class 2 and Class 3
Type Supplemental – Class E

“Smallest” Size Garments Type R

Small size workers wearing oversized garments can be a safety hazard. The standard now allows smallest size garment to have LESS background material:

Type R, Class 2 – 540 square inches instead of 775 square inches
Type R, Class 3 – 1000 square inches instead of 1240 square inches

Non- FR Labeling Requirement

Garments not meeting one of the flame resistant requirements must state in the label “This garment is non flame resistant as defined by ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 Section 10.5”

To comply with ANSI/ISEA 107-2015, the background material and retroreflective or combined-performance material used in the construction of a finished garment must be tested and certified by an accredited third party laboratory to ensure that the materials meet the specified performance requirements imposed by the standard.

AS/NZS 1906.4:2010 - Retro-reflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes - High-visibility materials for safety garments

This standard specifies requirements for high-visibility materials capable of signalling the user’s presence visually. The standard describes the requirements for and physical properties of photometric and colorimetric high-visibility materials for use outdoors during daylight hours (class F), retro-reflective materials for use at night or in other low-light conditions (class R), and a combination of the two.