Hi-Vis Clothing
Stay compliant and keep your people safe with hi-vis clothing from Cromwell. We're committed to providing high-performance workwear at great prices to reduce the risks of accidents and to keep employees feeling comfortable in their working environment.
We carefully select all high visibility workwear from market-leading brands, like Portwest®, Pulsar®, Goldfreeze® and our own brand, Sitesafe®.
What is hi-vis workwear?
Hi-vis workwear is manufactured in a wide range of clothing types, including waistcoats, trousers, and jackets. Made with luminescent material, garments are adorned with reflective strips to enable visibility in all light conditions. The matt fluorescent material allows the wearer to be easily seen by vehicle operators, while the reflective strips brightly illuminate in headlights at night.
Why buy hi-vis workwear?
To keep employees visible to road traffic or on-site traffic, providing safety workwear is an employer's responsibility under the Health & Safety at Work Act of 1974. Universally recognisable as a hazard warning, high visibility colours and reflective strips enhance visibility to reduce the risk of accidents and fatalities.
When is hi-vis workwear used?
Where employees work near to or around vehicles, including cars, VNAs and trains, hi-vis clothing keeps people visible to drivers to encourage vigilance and careful driving. It's used widely by emergency services, such as paramedics and the fire brigade to make sure they're easy to locate in low visibility conditions or high-risk environments. Savvy cyclists and dog-walkers frequently wear high visibility clothing, while nurseries and child-care facilities often dress their children in hi-vis jackets on walks and excursions to clearly identify them and keep them visible to motorists.
Hi-vis workwear types
High visibility clothing is available in many styles and designs to suit all working and safety requirements. All hi-vis trousers must be CE certified and comply with EN ISO 20471.
• Hi-vis jackets - Typically used for outdoor working, jackets can feature a range of inner and outer pockets and weather protection, such as double zips and removable liners to suit all weather conditions
• Hi-vis trousers - Available with a range of pockets with reflective strips around the thighs or lower legs, and on leg pocket closers
• Hi-vis waistcoats - The most common item of hi-vis workwear, waistcoats can feature bib and brace, or double bib and brace reflective strips to remain compliant with their respective class
• Hi-vis accessories - Typically, the products are designed for additional weather protection, such as removeable hoods or a hi-vis sun cape for helmets to protect the wearer while remaining compliant with safety standards
• Hi-vis body warmers - Like most body warmers, these are designed to keep the core warm while maintaining movement, and often feature removable liners for use in all weathers
• Hi-vis children's wear - Typically sized in years, these include children's hi-vis jackets and waistcoats to always keep them visible
• Hi-vis coveralls - Available in a range of styles including full body coverages and brace styles
• Hi-vis fleeces - Used widely by pickers and packers in warehouses, this hi-vis garment prevents the need for multiple items of clothing
• Hi-vis polo shirts - Closer fitting than a t-shirt, polo shirts are ideal for customer-facing employees
• Hi-vis sweatshirts - Often provided as an additional layer in colder working environments, sweatshirts provide warmth and flexibility
• Hi-vis t-shirts - Lightweight and comfortable in hot working conditions
Considerations when choosing hi-vis workwear
• Sizing - hi-vis garments are inclusively sized and tend to be a looser cut for comfort.
• Features - there are a range of waterproofing and wind-protection features on high visibility clothing. Jackets can feature storm flaps and high collars to protect against harsh conditions, while other garments feature removable liners to provide comfortable protection in all seasons.
• Logos / embroidery - hi-vis clothing can be embroidered or have a reflective logo added for branding purposes, however, it's important that any additions don't obscure the reflective material, otherwise the class of the garment will be impacted.
• Colour - Yellow and orange are the most common hi-vis colours as they both comply with British Standards.
Hi-vis workwear jargon buster
High visibility clothing compliant with EN ISO 20471 is broken down into three classifications. These classes are located on the compliance icon on the garment label and on the Technical Data Sheet, and appear as a number, 1, 2 or 3 next to the jacket icon.
Each class is identified according to risk, with each classification affecting the amount of reflective tape and contrasting fluorescent material displayed on the garment...
• Class 1 - This requires 0.10sqm of reflective tape and 0.14sqm of contrasting fluorescent material, and offers the lowest visibility level
• Class 2 - This is the intermediate class and requires 0.13sqm of reflective tape and 0.50sqm of contrasting fluorescent material to achieve this certification
• Class 3 - The highest class requires 0.20sqm of reflective tape and 0.80sqm of contrasting fluorescent material. Hi-vis clothing must cover the torso and feature long sleeves or trousers to achieve a class 3 certification
FAQs
How often should you replace your hi-vis clothing?
It's important to maintain your hi-vis clothing to stay compliant with British safety standards. All hi-vis garments will feature washing instructions on their label, and these should be followed to extend the life of the clothing. However, there will come a time in the garment's lifecycle where washing will reduce the visibility performance of the material and should be replaced. If the washing instructions are followed correctly, most hi-vis garments are good up to and including twenty-five washes before they need to be replaced.
Is a yellow or orange hi-vis better?
Both orange and yellow hi-vis colours are approved by British safety standards and perform the same way in enhancing the wearer's visibility. Orange hi-vis clothing is the colour of choice by Rail Industry standards. Train signals are both yellow and green, and so the use of orange prevents confusion and stands out when working near the rails.