What Is ANSI Class 2?
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established road worker reflective clothing standards in 1999 and revised these standards in 2004. The standards provided in ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 set voluntary guidelines for high-visibility clothing in three classes: 1, 2 and 3. Each class specifies minimum size, background color, reflectivity and placement of reflective material.
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ANSI Class 2 Standards
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Workers in a broad range of industries require high-visibility garments. Class 2 standards are for safety apparel and headwear with high visibility. Targeted employees are construction and utility workers, police and emergency personnel, firefighters, road workers and airport ramp workers. Guidelines for garments include shirts, vests, outerwear and rainwear, safety vests and headwear to improve visibility in daylight, low-light conditions and at night.
Garment Size
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The size of the reflective garment's background material for the Performance Class 2 standard is 775 square inches (or 0.50 square meters). A typical Class 2 garment is a full jacket with hood and sleeves. Background material should be fluorescent-colored and is meant to stand out conspicuously but is not required to be reflective. Suggested colors are fluorescent yellow/green, fluorescent orange/red and fluorescent red. The colors should contrast with the work environment and any vehicles or machinery present at the work site.
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Reflective Material
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Reflective material must be at least 1.375 inches in width (or 35mm). At least 4 yards of the reflective material must be present on the garment. For 2-inch wide reflective material, at least 2.8 yards of material must be present. There should be at least one reflective band encircling the torso for 360-degree visibility. Reflective bands should be separated by at least 2 inches, with arm bands placed between the elbow and shoulder, and another arm band 2 or more inches from the cuff of each sleeve. Optional vertical reflective trim gives better visualization of the human form.
Reflective Performance
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Reflective or retroreflective material should have a visibility of Level 2 in Table 5 or Level 1 in Table 6 of the ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 Standard. These tables are found in Section 8 of the standard. In addition, clothing and reflective material is tested for flexing, folding at cold temperatures, reflectivity after repeated washing, performance in rainfall and abrasion resistance.
ANSI Certification
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Materials and garments are tested by a third-party laboratory. Labeling, marking and instructions for use are given in sections 10 through 12 of the standard. Labeling includes identifying the manufacturer, designation of the product type and size, the specific ANSI/ISEA standard that is qualified and instructions for use and care. A pictogram illustrating the class and level of performance must be included for certification.
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References
- Photo Credit flagman - road work safety image by Stephen Jacoby from Fotolia.com fireman image by Edward White from Fotolia.com
