Does Carhartt High-Visibility and Color Enhanced Clothing meet national clothing standards?
What's the difference between Class 1, 2, 3 and E High-Visibility apparel?
What are the requirements for a garment to be considered Class 1, 2, 3 or E apparel?
What's special about the reflective material in Carhartt High-Visibility Clothing?
Bright lime or bright orange? Which high-visibility color should I choose?
What/Who is Federal Highway Administration?
How are ANSI compliant garments tested?
What is contiguous 360 degree visibility?
What does Level 1 or 2 Taping mean?
Does ANSI/ISEA have requirements for the placement of retroreflective materials?
How are the different classes determined?
What do all the labels mean on the inside of a High-Visibility garment?
Who wears ANSI compliant clothing?
What is the difference between ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 and ANSI/ISEA 107-2004?
What is 23 CFR Part 634 Worker Visibility?
Who is responsible for enforcing 23 CFR Part 634?
Can a vest be Class 3 compliant?
Does Carhartt High-Visibility clothing meet Canadian standards?
Does Carhartt High-Visibility and Color Enhanced Clothing meet national clothing standards?
Yes and no. All Carhartt High-Visibility Clothing meets ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 garment class requirements. However, there are no established visibility requirements for Color Enhanced work wear at present.
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What's the difference between Class 1, 2, 3 and E High-Visibility apparel?
Here's the breakdown: Class 1: This apparel provides the minimum amount of necessary material to differentiate the wearer from the work environment. Carhartt does not offer Class 1 garments.
Class 2: This work wear provides superior visibility by the additional coverage of the torso, and is more conspicuous than Class 1.
Class 3: This clothing is intended to offer greater visibility to the wearer in both complex backgrounds and through a full range of body motions. Class 3 visibility is achieved with the addition of background and retroreflective material to the apparel's arms and/or legs.
Class E: This standard applies to trousers or shorts that are used to create a high-visibility ensemble. When Class E bottoms are worn with a Class 2 or 3 upper-body garment, the overall classification is Class 3.
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What are the requirements for a garment to be considered Class 1, 2, 3 or E apparel?
In order for a garment to meet Class 1, 2, 3 or E requirements, it must meet the minimum requirements for amount of background material and retroreflective material. All high-visibility apparel must have retroreflective material.
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What's special about the reflective material in Carhartt High-Visibility Clothing?
The 3M™ Scotchlite™ reflective material used in all Carhartt High-Visibility Clothing uses a technology known as retroreflection, which helps the eye perceive light during nighttime and low-light conditions. Retroreflection occurs when light rays are returned directly to the original light source, such as car headlights. Because little light is scattered when the light is returned, retroreflective materials appear brightest to motorists and vehicle operators.
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Bright lime or bright orange? Which high-visibility color should I choose?
Workers should choose the color that will make them more conspicuous in their particular environment. Bright lime garments will best differentiate workers from orange-colored work vehicles, signs and construction barrels. Bright orange apparel is recommended for those working in leafy green areas.
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What/Who is ANSI?
ANSI oversees the creation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector: from acoustical devices to construction equipment, from dairy and livestock production to energy distribution, and many more. ANSI is also actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards - including globally-recognized cross-sector programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems.
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What/Who is ISEA?
ISEA is the International Safety Equipment Association. ISEA is the trade association for U.S. suppliers of safety and personal protective equipment. ISEA is the body that develops and publishes the standard, while ANSI administers it.
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What/Who is Federal Highway Administration?
NEW FHWA LAW: November 24, 2008 is the deadline for the worker visibility provisions published by the Federal Highway Administration on Nov. 24, 2006, 23 CFR Part 634. This means that by November 24, all workers within the right of way of a federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic or construction equipment within the work area have to wear high-visibility safety apparel that meets the Performance Class 2 or 3 requirements of the American National Standard for High Visibility Apparel (ANSI/ISEA 107-2004). Carhartt offers several products that are in compliance with this new law.
FHWA is charged with the broad responsibility of ensuring that America's roads and highways continue to be the safest and most technologically up-to-date. Although state, local, and tribal governments own most of the nation's highways, we provide financial and technical support to them for constructing, improving, and preserving America's highway system.
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How are ANSI compliant garments tested?
High-visibility garments are required to be tested and certified by an independent, accredited third-party laboratory. After the garment is tested, a certificate will be provided confirming the garment's compliancy. Some of the tests performed include background color testing, colorfastness, burst/tear strength and photometric performance of retroreflective material.
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What is contiguous 360 degree visibility?
Class 1, 2 and 3 garments all must have contiguous 360 degree visibility, which means retroreflective material must encircle the torso of the garment to be considered ANSI compliant.
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What does Level 1 or 2 Taping mean?
The photometric performance level refers to the amount of reflectivity or brightness of a retroreflective material. Level 2 taping provides a greater contrast and visibility than Level 1 taping over wider viewing angles of safety apparel when seen in headlights during darkness.
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Does ANSI/ISEA have requirements for the placement of retroreflective materials?
Yes, there are several requirements for the placement of retroreflective material on the garments. Specific requirements include where retroreflective bands should be placed on full-length sleeves, legs and the torso of the garment.
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What about headwear?
ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 does include requirements for ANSI compliant headwear. Headwear is considered an important accessory and complements the overall visibility of the wearer. Headwear enhances visibility to the head of a moving worker in daylight and helps define the shape of the human form during nighttime exposure.
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How are the different classes determined?
The ISEA has based the categories on the color and complexity of the work environment, the task load of the worker, separation of the worker from moving equipment and vehicles, and other work environment variables.
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What do all the labels mean on the inside of a High-Visibility garment?
In addition to the common care label, ANSI requires a label designating the class of the garment, as well as a pictogram, showing the performance class and retroreflective taping level of the garment.
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Who wears ANSI compliant clothing?
ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 Appendix B gives the following suggested guidelines for the appropriate apparel class:
Class 1:
Class 2:
Class 3:
What is the MUTCD?
The MUTCD stands for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. It is published by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration. All state level DOTs are required to adhere to the MUTCD. The MUTCD states that "all workers exposed to the risks of moving roadway traffic or construction equipment should wear high-visibility safety apparel meeting the requirements of ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 standard performance for Class 1, 2 or 3 risk exposure." The manual also spells out specific class requirements for flagging crews (must wear Class 2 during the day and should wear Class 3 at night).
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What is the difference between ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 and ANSI/ISEA 107-2004?
ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 was the original high visibility apparel standard and was developed by the ISEA in 1999. In 2004, the standard was revised to include high visibility headwear as a category. Another important change to the standard in 2004 was the prohibiting of any kind of sleeveless garment to be labeled as Class 3 when worn alone. Additionally, all references to classes of garments and their use in specific environments based on vehicle speeds were removed. ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 emphasizes that garment selection should be based on the color and complexity of the work environment, the task load of the worker, separation of the worker from moving equipment and vehicles, and other work environment variables. The revised version also added additional testing procedures and removed those that added no value.
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What is 23 CFR Part 634 Worker Visibility?
This is a final rule published by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It requires that, by November 2008, all workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment with the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel (Class 2 or 3).
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Who is responsible for enforcing 23 CFR Part 634?
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) will enforce the regulation under its General Duty Clause, which requires employers to take the appropriate steps to protect workers. OSHA refers to ANSI 107-2004 as a way for employers to comply with this requirement.
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Can a vest be Class 3 compliant?
No, the revision of ANSI/ISEA 107 in 2004 prohibits any sleeveless garment from being labeled Class 3 when worn alone.
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Does Carhartt High-Visibility clothing meet Canadian standards?
No, Carhartt High-Visibility clothing is not certified to meet the Canadian High-Visibility Safety Apparel standard, CSA Z96-02, at this point in time.
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