There are two kinds of bright clothing on a jobsite: gear that makes you easier to see, and gear that has been tested and labeled to a standard. They can look identical from ten feet away. Only one of them will satisfy an inspector. These are the questions we get asked most, answered as plainly as we can.
What is ANSI 107?
ANSI/ISEA 107 is the American standard for high-visibility safety apparel. It sets minimum amounts of fluorescent background fabric and retroreflective tape, specifies where the tape must go so you are visible from every direction, and requires the materials to pass lab tests for brightness. The permitted background colors are fluorescent yellow-green and fluorescent orange-red.
What do Type O, R and P mean?
Type O is off-road: warehouses, parking lots, yards, anywhere away from public traffic. Type R is roadway work. Type P is public safety, meaning police, fire and EMS.
And Class 1, 2 and 3?
Class is about how much visible material the garment carries.
Class 1 is the minimum: at least 217 square inches of background and 155 of reflective. It suits workers well separated from traffic moving under 25 mph.
Class 2 calls for at least 775 square inches of background and 201 of reflective, visible through a full 360 degrees. This is the everyday requirement for most road and construction work near traffic in the 25 to 50 mph range.
Class 3 calls for 1,240 square inches of background and 310 of reflective, and in practice needs sleeves, because a vest alone cannot carry that much material. It is for high-speed roads, night work and the highest-risk exposure.
When is a rated garment legally required?
On federal-aid highway projects, everyone working within the right-of-way must wear Class 2 or Class 3. Flaggers need Class 2 or 3 as well. Beyond that, requirements are set by state rules, the general contractor and your own company's safety plan, and they vary. The only reliable move is to ask your safety lead what the site calls for before you buy.
How do I know whether a garment is rated?
Read the tag. A compliant garment carries a label stating ANSI/ISEA 107, the type and the class. If the label does not say it, do not assume it, however bright the fabric is.
We will hold ourselves to that. Our hi-vis pieces, the M3089 hoody and the V2303 mesh vest, are not ANSI/ISEA 107 rated. They make you easier to see. They do not satisfy a site that requires a rated garment. If your site calls for a specific class, wear a garment labeled for it, and email support@upfitallwear.com if you need a spec confirmed for a bid or safety plan.
Then what is a hi-vis hoodie good for?
A great deal, because most of the working day happens outside a regulated work zone: the yard at 6 a.m., the loading dock, the farm road, the driveway where you are unloading the trailer, the walk across the lot in December when it is dark at 4:30. A bright hoodie with reflective tape makes you dramatically easier to see in all of those places, and unlike a vest you will actually keep it on, because it is also the thing keeping you warm.
Many crews run a rated vest over a hi-vis hoodie in cold months. The vest meets the requirement; the hoodie adds sleeves' worth of color underneath and means you are still visible when the vest comes off at the truck.
Why do so many have a black bottom half?
Because the lower front of a sweatshirt is where the work lands. You lean on the tailgate, carry block against your stomach, wipe your hands. Fluorescent fabric that has gone gray with grime is no longer doing its job. The two-tone design on our M3089 Hi-Vis Safety Hoody keeps the fluorescent panel high on the chest, shoulders and arms where drivers look, and puts black where the dirt goes.
How do I keep hi-vis bright?
Wash it cold, inside out, with the zipper closed. Skip bleach and fabric softener, both of which dull fluorescent dye and degrade reflective tape. Hang dry or tumble low. Retire the garment when the color has visibly faded next to a new one or the tape has cracked; at that point it is a sweatshirt.
What we carry
M3089 2-Tone Hi-Vis Safety Fleece Hoody
M1078 Basic Fleece Zipper Hoody
M2078 Unisex Basic Fleece Pullover Hoody
The M3089 is the purpose-built piece: two-tone fleece, reflective tape, full zip, S to 3XL. The M1078 zip hoody and M2078 pullover both come in neon yellow and neon orange for crews that want color without tape. For warm weather there is the V2303 mesh safety vest with a zip front. None of it carries an ANSI rating, so wear a rated vest over it where the site requires one. All of it is in Work Utility and Hoodies.