Why Is Hi-Vis Clothing Important?
High visibility clothing, or hi-vis for short, is highly luminescent personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by workers to enhance their visibility on a worksite. The primary role of hi-vis clothing is to quickly separate wearers from the background environment they are working in.
Since the introduction of hi-vis clothing, the frequency of accidents on worksites has dropped considerably and there has also been a decrease in the number of collisions experienced by motorcyclists and cyclists worldwide.
Orange vs Yellow Hi-Vis
In the UK, hi-vis clothing is available in two colours: hi-vis orange and hi-vis yellow. Although you may have seen hi-vis clothing available in a variety of other fluorescent colours like blue, pink, green and red, this is not hi-vis clothing as it is not compliant with EN 20471.
Fluorescent yellow is the most common and brightest hi-vis colour; however this does not mean it is perfect for every job! If you’re working outdoors, surrounded by trees and grass, fluorescent yellow hi-vis will blend into the background.
Orange hi-vis, however, will stand out against any outdoor environment, which is why it is the colour of choice for rail workers who need to be spotted from great distances while working outside. Plus, in terms of colour psychology, orange evokes energy and urgency - which is what’s needed when trying to stop a train at full speed!
Although orange is great for rural settings, it can be harder to see in less well-lit buildings, so for any work in dimly-lit warehouses, building sites or factories, yellow hi-vis is the ideal choice.
What About Mixed Colour Hi-Vis?
You may have seen that some hi-vis clothing is made up of two or more colours (including some items in our collection!) and there can be various reasons for this.
Usually, hi-vis clothing featuring two fluorescent colours is used to differentiate between staff roles or locations. For example, someone working in sections A and B would wear different colour hi-vis.
In some work environments, workers may be required to wear hi-vis clothing that mixes yellow, orange and black in order to create an even more striking contrast. Hi vis clothing with black lower halves also tend to be used to help disguise dirt and oil.
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At the end of the day, hi-vis clothing is all about staying visible and safe in your work environment. So, it is important that you choose a colour that will stand out in the specific environment you are working in, taking your workers’ needs and considerations into account.
