Vest or No Vest: That is the Question

A road construction worker. A parking lot attendant. Even a jogger running in your neighborhood. It's hard to go a day without seeing someone wearing a high visibility garment. And for good reason – those individuals recognize that additional visibility will help them be seen by drivers and avoid injury or even death. 

Are You Always in Compliance?

For workers, one of the most important factors related to Hi-Visibility garments is compliance. Meeting recognized safety standards and complying with government regulation is true for gloves, ear plugs, safety eyewear, head protection and pretty much all products that are considered personal protective equipment. Often meeting safety requirements comes at the expense of comfort and we all know how we feel when something that we're wearing makes us uncomfortable. Vests are worn over clothing and require fastening for compliance, which can be constricting and depending on the weather, make a hot summer day feel even hotter. Instinctively, we want to adjust the vest, unfasten it or take off to make it our situation more comfortable. Unlike gloves or hearing protection, the danger is less obvious to a worker when working without a vest. There's really no natural trigger that tells us "hey you're less visible and therefore in danger." To overcome this issue, there has been a growing trend toward using high visibility t-shirts and sweatshirts in place of vests, to keep workers comfortable and compliant at all times. 

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Innovative Hi-Vis Clothing

PIP's Hi-Vis shirts and sweatshirts eliminate the need for the additional layer (the vest). This helps keep workers who must do their job under the hot sun, stay cooler. Some of our t-shirts actually help wick moisture away so that workers stay drier and feel more comfortable. Additionally, some are even treated to maintain an SPF 50+ factor which helps protect against the sun's harmful rays. Other options meeting Type R Class 2 or Class 3 include Black-Bottom, X-Back, long sleeve, and short sleeve alternatives.

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100% Compliance

Coming back to the topic of the vest, it can be easily removed or forgotten while high visibility shirts or sweatshirts wear and feel like regular clothing, so the possibility of removal due to discomfort is highly unlikely. The big advantage for an employer is 100% compliance with no worker discomfort.  And while discomfort may seem to be benign, it affects worker acuity and performance. 

Consider high visibility clothing as a practical alternative over vests. 

View our entire line of Hi-Vis Apparel >