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Fluorescent yellow vest with retroreflective strips
Retroreflective material in light microscope, magnification 3.5 x
Retroreflective material in light microscope, magnification 8 x
Retroreflective material in light microscope, magnification 20 x
Retroreflective material in Scanning Electron Microscope, magnification 15 x
Retroreflective material in Scanning Electron Microscope, magnification 200 x
High-visibility clothing is a type of personal protective equipment (PPE) and is any clothing worn that has highly reflective properties or a color that is easily discernable from any background. Orange hunting vests are a popular example of high-visibility clothing.
Part of the surface of clothes may be made retroreflective (small parts of coats, large parts of special safety clothes for rescue workers etc.). This way they become much more visible in the dark for observers near a light source, such as the driver of a car with its headlights on. The pattern of the retroreflecting parts also helps to distinguish between objects and people.
For greater visibility at daytime, as well as for decoration, very bright colors are obtained with fluorescence.
A related type of PPE corresponding to maximizing visual awareness in dangerous environments is head gear mounted mirrors. They allow the wearer to see potential dangers rather than just being seen.
The opposite are clothes with a camouflage pattern.
Many Halloween costumes are considered high-visibility, as they have reflective strips sewn into the fabric.
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In general, people who wear high-visibility clothing are those who need to be conspicuous to other people. Typically, they are pedestrians or have no significant physical protection in dangerous industrial environments. However, this type of personal protective equipment (PPE) is also common in many outdoor activities in which people are on foot, like those on bicycles or motorcycles, or who may be exposed to other people who are operating motor vehicles, heavy equipment, or firearms, and need to be conspicuous to them. In addition, bicyclists and motorcyclists need to be visible to each other, and to pedestrians.
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Firefighters wearing coats with high-visibility strips
While it seems intuitively obvious that high-visibility clothing should make its wearer easier for vehicle operators, hunters, etc., to see and avoid, there are surprisingly few studies to quantify the effectiveness of high-visibility clothing for particular classes of users.
The Hurt Report and a New Zealand studySusan Wells et al. (April 10, 2004). Motorcycle rider conspicuity and crash related injury: case-control study. BMJ. Retrieved on 2007-06-26. found that high-visibility clothing significantly reduced multiple vehicle accidents involving motorcycles.
Traffic risks to the bicyclist are similar to those faced by motorcyclists (see SMIDSY), with the main differences being that bicycling speeds are typically lower, and the bicyclist wears less protective gear. Nonetheless, there seems to be even less research on the effectiveness of high-visibility clothing for the bicyclist than for the motorcyclist. However, a number of vendors market high-visibility clothing for bicyclists. From a good vantage point along a road or cycleway with a sight line of 1 km or more, one can watch bicyclists approaching during daylight, and see that those clad in high-visibility clothing become readily visible long before dull-clad bicyclists riding next to them.
The American National Standards Institute published a standardANSI/ISEA 107-1999 American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel. eLCOSH. Retrieved on 2007-08-26. for high-visibility clothing in 1999. The standard defines three classes of successively more-visible garments, to protect workers exposed to successively higher levels of risk from motor vehicles and heavy equipment.
ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 is a voluntary industry consensus standard; however, Occupational Safety regulations support its implementation by employers whose employees are at risk from motor traffic or heavy equipment.
ANSI revised the standard in 2004.ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 MADE EASY: A Quick Reference to High-Visibility Safety Apparel. 3M. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
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