ANSI Standards for High-Visibility Safety Garments

In 1999, the American National Standards Institute released standard 107-1999 for high-visibility safety garments. That standard specified how much brightly-colored material and reflective material should be in safety garments worn under various types of hazardous conditions.

Class 1

For workers in places like warehouses or parking lots, where they can pay attention to low-speed hazards. A typical Class 1 garment is a traditional-style traffic vest with reflective stripes, including at least one stripe visible from all sides.

Class 2

For workers who face traffic moving faster than 25 mph or work in inclement weather. Suitable for directing traffic at less than freeway speeds. A typical Class 2 garment is a vest that covers most of the torso and has multiple reflective stripes.

Class 3

For working near high-speed traffic while paying attention to something else, such as in freeway construction work. A Class 3 garment could be a vest with sleeves or a jacket, or a Class 2 vest worn together with high-visibility pants.

This guide from 3M provides further information about standard 107-2004, which supercedes standard 107-1999.

Standard 207-2006 addresses the needs of public safety personnel, with specifications for vests designed to allow access to belt-mounted equipment, and to break away if grabbed or caught. Such vests are shorter, so as not to cover equipment belts, and are held together with velcro.

The 2009 version of the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices now requires all workers on public roads to wear high-visibility apparel. The rule specifies ANSI 107 Class 2 or 3 garments; emergency responders and law enforcement personnel can also wear ANSI 207 vests, and have other exemptions. The rule is found in MUTCD Chapter 6D on pedestrian and worker safety.