If you work in an environment where your safety is a major concern than by law, you may need an orange safety vest in order to perform your duties. A high visibility work vest is required so that you can be seen at all times whether it in the daytime or at night. Jobs like traffic controllers, construction workers, utility workers, roadside assistance workers, airport ground crews, warehouse employees, and many more requires an orange safety vest to keep the employee away from harm’s way and in constant visibility.

Without these work safety shirts, it makes it that much easier for accidents to happen whether on the road or in a warehouse. Fast pace environments where people are in constant motion going in and around hazardous materials are prone to cause accidents. According to research In 2015, 4,836 workers were killed on the job. That equals 13 deaths every day. This is why brightly colored work wear are required for all employees.

These hi vis work shirts comes in different classes depending on your job duties. Let’s take a look at these different classes to help you figure out what type of orange safety vest is right for you.

Class 1 safety vests
The class 1 orange safety vest are reserved for workers who are the lowest risk factor while performing their tasks. The low risk jobs included traffic workers where vehicles are traveling exactly at or below 25 miles per hour. These types of jobs usually take place in a small residential community where, by law, drivers must travel as high as 25 mile and no more. This way they avoid hitting pedestrians or in this case sidewalk repairmen. The repairmen would be required to wear a class 1 reflective safety vest.

Class 2 orange safety vests
For jobs and environments where the worker is in a greater risk of harm requires the need for a class 2 high visibility clothing. Traffic workers where cars are traveling at a speed of 5o miles per hour or less require these types of vets. The class 2 vests are much larger than the class 1 orange safety vests. They are usually worn by airport crew members or baggage claimers as well as crossing guards.

Class 3 orange safety vests
A Class 3 high visibility work vest are reserved for the most dangerous environments where the workers visibility is a high concern. Roads where traffic workers re going up against cars travelling well above 50 miles per hour would require the workers to were a class 3 orange safety vest. Truck operators, or people working in condition with severe weather like rain storms or blizzards also require the need of a class 3 vest. The reflective strips on these vests are of course much bigger that the previous two. Regardless of what type of vest you wear always be aware of your surrounding when working in harsh conditions.