The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established road-worker reflective-clothing standards in 1999 and revised these standards in 2010. The standards provided in document ISEA 107 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.
Class 2 Standards
Class 2 standards are for safety apparel and headgear 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 rain wear, safety vests and headgear to improve visibility in daylight, low-light conditions and at night.
Garment Size
The size of the reflective garment's background material for the Performance Class 2 standard is 775 square inches. 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 worksite.
Reflective Material
Reflective material must be at least 1.375 inches in width. 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.
ANSI Certification
Materials and garments are tested by a third-party laboratory. 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.
Section Locations
Placement of retroreflective material information is located in Table 1. Section 6, Table 2 lists combined-performance and background material requirements; Section 6 also has the design requirements for manufacturers.