Testing of High-Visibility Safety Garments Part 2

Background

This is the second article in a series relating to information about high-visibility garments. The first of these articles looked at the design aspects, this article focuses on the materials used in these garments.

The Standard for High-Visibility Safety Garments

AS/NZS 1906.4:2010 is the joint Australian and New Zealand standard covering the materials used in high visibility safety garments. This standard is also referred to in AS/NZS 4602.1:2011 which relates to product design.

Application of the Standard

There are two specifications relating to materials:

• the background material used in Day and Day/Night garments
• the retroreflective tape used in the Day/Night and Night garments

The background materials can be fluorescent (“F”) or Non-Fluorescent (“NF”). Fluorescent materials are most efficient in day light when there is an appreciable amount on UV (ultraviolet) in the light. Artificial night time lighting contains little or no UV, so these background colours have limited visibility in night lighting. The retroreflective tapes are only effective at night time.

To read more, download the fact sheet