Hi-Viz

[chillyuk]

Why do road workers wear yellow hi-viz and railway workers orange? Is orange more visible at a distance. Train drivers travelling at 100mph plus need to be able to see people around the track as soon as possible, and the railways have selected orange hi-viz for this purpose. Road workers are mainly confronted by traffic travelling at much slower speeds and yellow has become the selected hi-viz. When I wear hi-viz when cycling, and I don't all the time, I have started to wear orange. If it's good enough for railway workers dodging high speed trains it's good enough for me.

 

[ThePainInSpain]

Funny you should raise this, I was only thinking the other day whilst driving that a motorcyclist in a Yellow/green Hi-viz very quickly faded into the lighting, and I thought then that an Orange would have been more visible.

It is compulsory in Spain to carry a Hi-viz in the car in case of breakdown, it should be green/yellow but mine is Orange.

 

[subaqua]

Why do road workers wear yellow hi-viz and railway workers orange? Is orange more visible at a distance. Train drivers travelling at 100mph plus need to be able to see people around the track as soon as possible, and the railways have selected orange hi-viz for this purpose. Road workers are mainly confronted by traffic travelling at much slower speeds and yellow has become the selected hi-viz. When I wear hi-viz when cycling, and I don't all the time, I have started to wear orange. If it's good enough for railway workers dodging high speed trains it's good enough for me.

many railway signs used to have a yellow background so the driver couldn't be sure if it was men on track or signage at side.

well thats what the guy told us on my PTS when the question was asked.

in construction, orange is generally worn by banksmen.

 

[chillyuk]

Thanks Subaqua, that makes sense.

 

[Norm]

I'm not sure that there is a reason, if there is it's possibly lost in the mists of time, but it is certainly a standard convention and, because everyone uses the same standard convention, it does make it easy for those working on the railways to instantly spot humanity in places where it wouldn't be expected.

 

[uphillstruggler]

just something i read a while ago that the Army did a test to see which colour was least and most noticable, cant remember which was least but yellow came out as Most.

Also, some football boot manufacturers changed their logo to yellow a few years ago so that the logo would show up more on TV.

 

[subaqua]

have spoken to our onsite safety advisor and he confirmed the reason i said.


as for the effectiveness of Yellow v Orange, it depends on sun angles, light levels etc. hence why the better rucksack covers have both colours.

have done some very basic tests this morning in work under streetlight conditions.

under low pressure sodium light the orange jackets effectiveness is reduced , under high pressure sodium lights the yellow works better. but what did stand out was the reflective strip. white is better under all light types.

 

[Scoosh]

.... but what did stand out was the reflective strip. white is better under all light types.

Apologies for going a bit OT ....

Did you know you can get black tape, which reflects white ?

I heard about it on Sunday and saw the evidence for myself. Very good if you wish to maintain the 'look' but have the reflectivity.

 

[subaqua]

oooh that looks good and i could repair my works hi viz coat that i just ripped again without it looking too scabby.

 

[Svendo]

In some european countries the HI-Viz colour conventions are the other way round, or at least when I've seen workers on the road in Denmark and I think Belgium they've been in orange Hi-Viz. Don't know if their rail workers wear yellow though.

 

[surfdude]

if a train driver sees an orange top he knows he is on the right tracks . if he sees a yellow top he knows he taking a wrong turn and is now on a road so is lost . hope this clears things up .

 

[subaqua]

Yellow is used for signalling on railways - if you look a yellow colour light signal on a railway is a distinctly different colour from an amber signal on the road.

as one is yellow and one is amber

 

[Skyfoil]

According to someone I know who calls himself an expert... (though I don't know what in!)...

Yellow is the most visible hi-vis colour across more types of lighting sources. i.e. Sunlight, Neon lights, Street lights, etc.
Orange is a close second.

Look out for labels stating 'British Standard BS EN 471'.

BS EN 471 AND IS EN 411 Class 2
The Torso shall have two horizontal bands of retro-reflective material at least 50mm apart, the lower horizontal band at least 50mm away from the garments bottom edge, with bands over each shoulder joining the upper body band front & back

BS EN 471 AND IS EN 411 Class 3
The Torso is as given for waistcoats, Full length sleeves should have two bands of retro-reflective material matching those on the torso; the upper band between the elbow and the shoulder, the lower band at least 50mm away from the sleeves bottom edge.

Class 3
Yellow garments are suitable for works on all roads and high speed roads (over 50mph) for maximum visibility. Reflective stripes are 50mm wide.

Class 2
Yellow garments are suitable for works on county type/urban roads such as class A and B roads where the speed of traffic is less than 50mph. Reflective strips are 50mm wide.


I've seen other colour 'hi-vis' vests and jackets whilst out and about, (notably a couple of green vests and a few red jackets). I must admit, I don't like them, they're not as visible by a long shot.

 

[tyred]

I think I read somewhere that pink is supposed to be the most visible colour. Not sure how true that is as I have never seen a pink hi-vis jacket.

Edit: At night, the important part is the reflective strips.

 

[Fiona N]

I think I read somewhere that pink is supposed to be the most visible colour.

Our local running shop has a full display of pink hi-vis gear in the window - it's so bright, it's traffic stopping. The other window has yellow and green which in the current dim conditions, doesn't repel the eye nearly so well.

So I'd have to say that in dim daylight, the pink (it's quite a deep pink, not Barbie colour) is a good deal more noticeable. I guess at night, you'd be relying more on the reflective stuff...