Hi Vis Clothing

Why Wear Hi-Vis Clothing?

Being visible is a key part of safety and our range of high visibility clothing will help your staff to achieve this. High visibility clothing is an important safety measure in many lines of work but is particularly crucial in areas of high traffic, including construction sites, road maintenance and busy warehouses. This is even more essential when continuing to work after dark.

High visibility clothing is also useful to identify key personnel who may need to be located quickly, such as first aiders, marshals and fire officers. At Seton, we have a wide range of high visibility clothing designed to suit a variety of different workplaces and roles.

Understanding The EN ISO 20471 Hi–Vis Clothing Standard

You may or may not be aware that the clothing regulations surrounding hi – vis garments have changed. The old standard was called EN471 and while it worked perfectly well there were areas for improvement, so in 2013 the new standard was brought in.

It is an international standard for the safety requirements of hi-vis workwear. It specifies requirements necessary for visibly signalling the users presence when at work. If you have not updated your workwear in some time then it is unfortunately likely that you are not operating under the compliance of EN ISO 20471.

The Key Points of EN ISO 20471

The requirement is assessed on which part of the body is being covered. Torso only; torso and arms; legs; torso and legs; and torso, arms and legs.
Many things are taken into account for a hi-vis garment that complies with the legislation, they include: tensile strength, thermal resistance, the minimum area of reflective material, the tolerated level of “bleeding” between fluorescent and contrast materials and placement of reflective tape. All of these and more are taken into consideration to arrive at the garments class allocation.

There is a minimum requirement for the surface material and the area it covers to reach a certain class, they are defined as follows:

• Class 1: The lowest level of visibility. These are commonly hi-vis trousers, pieces of clothing worn separately from jackets and vests


• Class 2: Intermediate level of visibility. These are usually hi-vis vests, clothing that does not cover the entirety of one part of the body but allows the wearer to be seen in dark conditions.


• Class 3: Highest level of visibility. Hi-vis jackets most commonly fit into this category, an item that covers the whole upper body and provides excellent visibility.

It should be noted that class 3 can be achieved by either wearing clothing specifically rated as such or by wearing different products that jointly make up a class 3 rating by the total area covered in fluorescent and reflective material.

Choosing High Visibility Clothing

Only 3 colours are approved for hi-vis clothing, fluorescent yellow, orange and red. Our range of high visibility clothing includes vests, which can be easily slipped over the top of other clothing, and jackets and trousers. All are made from a luminous material that will clearly stand out and include reflective bands that will reflect lights, including vehicle headlights, to improve safety after dark. Because workers who require high visibility clothing are likely to be carrying out a lot of work outdoors in all weather conditions, the range includes padded jackets for extra warmth, and waterproof clothing to protect from splashes and rain.

You can turn any clothing into high visibility clothing with the use of high visibility armbands. This can be a very cost-effective measure and we have a selection with bold lettering to identify key personnel. If we do not have the lettering you require, you also have the option of a customisable armband, which can be created to fit your needs.

It is a legal requirement for employers to take effective measures to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries in hazardous areas. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), including high visibility clothing, will greatly increase the safety of your workers. Understanding all of your obligations under the current health and safety rules can be a challenge, but the large range of safety equipment available at Seton will make creating safe working processes much easier, as we live up to our motto of ‘safety made easy’. All of our products comply with the necessary health and safety legislation, allowing you to shop with confidence.

Accidents at work can have devastating and sometimes even fatal consequences, but very often, simple health and safety measures can prevent them from happening or at least reduce the severity. Providing high visibility clothing will enable your workers to be seen by drivers, whether they are on your premises or working off-site, increasing the safety of both the workers and vehicle drivers. For anyone working in areas of high traffic volume or after dark, having well-made high visibility clothing is particularly reassuring and will enable them to complete their work efficiently and without worry.