Federal Rule on Worker Visibility: Toward Additional Guidance

A notice of proposed rulemaking on highway worker visibility was issued by the Federal Highway Administration in April 2006. The proposed rule requires that “all workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway…shall wear high-visibility safety apparel (HVSA).” Class 2 or Class 3 apparel is required of all workers, as described in the ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 standards on HVSA. This paper investigates some areas in which additional guidance on HVSA could be provided. These include garment appearance (color, contrast and retroreflective trim) and clothing management (durability and replacement). Only about 20% of State Departments of Transportation were using ANSI/ISEA colors for their HVSA as of Fall 2005. It is suggested that the proposed rule emphasize the use of fluorescent orange-red, fluorescent red, and fluorescent yellow-green. A chart to guide the selection of HVSA colors for various background environments is proposed. Further research is needed on contrasting colors for gray, orange, white and yellow backgrounds. Guidance should be developed for shapes and patterns of retroreflective trim, as well as for the durability of and replacement cycles for HVSA; research is needed in these areas. Horizontal and vertical retroreflective bands are currently being used, as well as chevron patterns, “X” shapes, and logos. Research is needed to determine if these shapes and patterns are more visible than others. The proposed rule mentions that the useful life of HVSA can range from six months to three years; research is needed on HVSA durability to develop more definitive guidance on replacement cycles.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Cottrell, Wayne D
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2007-1-21 to 2007-1-25
• Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 10p
• Monograph Title: TRB 86th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers CD-ROM

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Federal laws; Guidelines; Occupational safety; Operations; Retroreflectivity; Road construction workers; Safety equipment; Visibility; Work zone safety; Work zone traffic control; Work zones
• Uncontrolled Terms: High visibility garments
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01049635
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 07-1863
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 21 2007 1:18PM