Thursday, March 6, 2014

Considerations When Buying High Visibility Safety Products

By Leticia Jensen


Safety is a very important concern especially when one is out on the roads. Because of the speeds, vehicles move at, some drivers might not see vehicles parked or people working along the road easily. To avoid accidents, it is good to have high visibility safety products like clothing and other accessories. When purchasing these products, you will get a better outcome if you consider a few things.

Some of the products should be bought to satisfy statutory requirements. This means that one has no option but to get them otherwise one will be prosecuted. Such products include the warning triangles people use when a vehicles breaks down and the reflective jackets worn by riders. When buying these items, you have to make sure they meet the standards set by the authorities otherwise you will not escape prosecution.

You can still buy these items to improve safety even if there is no law requiring you to do so. When doing so, it is important to know how these products work so that you can pick the right one. You need to determine the work environment where you will be using the item. The two main environments are normal light and low-light conditions. In normal light conditions, a simple material such as an orange jacket will be sufficient.

In low light conditions such as when one is riding or working along the road at night, you need something more advanced. The basic thing is finding a material that will focus light back to the source. This means that when beams from the headlight hit the garment, they are sent back to the driver. This increases visibility by up to a quarter of a mile.

High visibility products can be categorized in different classes so you must find a product in the class which corresponds with the conditions where you will be using it. If you get an item in the wrong class, you might not be doing anything to improve the safety of the people using them. For example, an item that will be good enough for shopping cart retrievers, parking lot attendants or warehouse workers will not improve the safety of highway workers.

The different classes may have different costs so you should prepare accordingly. The cost may also be influenced by the item size. For example, you might pay more to get a full-sleeve jacket compared to someone who buys a reflective vest only. The provider you buy from will also influence the price. This is why you must try to get as many quotes as possible then compare them to find out who has the best prices.

Apart from protecting people from external hazards, you should also try to protect them from job site hazards. For instance, you should use safety products with different colors from the equipment being used on the site. This will ensure that no one is hurt by equipment operators due to low visibility.

With the listed tips in mind while searching for the safety products, one will readily get the best. It might also be easier to get them at a fair price. One must remember to consider the quality in order to be sure that the items bought will last.




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