Should high vis be banned? At least those made of nylon type material?

Picture from an efixx video, should any construction worker likely to come into contact with live supplies and the resultant ionisation be wearing any man-made fibre clothes?

ericmark said:

View attachment 416310 Picture from an efixx video, should any construction worker likely to come into contact with live supplies and the resultant ionisation be wearing any man-made fibre clothes?

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this has been asked very frequently and the cause of a number of injuries but I suspect any conclusions are based along the lines of the number of saves Vs the number problems.

Fluorescent strips can be sown on to most materials, I remember being issued with a fluorescent tab in the building of Connah's Quay power station, which we all wore under our overalls, we were of course stopped, and questioned, and we said overalls as the name suggests go over all, and are to stop any loose clothing from getting caught in machinery, and health and safety required we wear them, and as long as they were prepared to issue a statement to the union to say overalls are no longer required, we would be happy to stop wearing them, as they are rather hot.

We were issued with overalls with fluorescent strips instead. Main material was cotton.

ericmark said:

Fluorescent strips can be sown on to most materials, I remember being issued with a fluorescent tab in the building of Connah's Quay power station, which we all wore under our overalls, we were of course stopped, and questioned, and we said overalls as the name suggests go over all, and are to stop any loose clothing from getting caught in machinery, and health and safety required we wear them, and as long as they were prepared to issue a statement to the union to say overalls are no longer required, we would be happy to stop wearing them, as they are rather hot.

We were issued with overalls with fluorescent strips instead. Main material was cotton.

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When I did some work on railway premises I was issued with an orange Hi-Vis vest by my employer. I turned up and sat through the 5 hour site induction (which unlike most major building contractors is transferable) the went to find my initial escort, he went through the roof as I had to be dressed neck to ankles in orange (even though I was only working in a very ordinary plant room). I was lucky as he was prepared to escort me to the plant room and go through the scope of works with me incorrectly dressed.

My employer provided orange overalls but nylon... same result as nylon was not permitted. Again he escorted me to the plant room to allow me to start the job but on the instructions that I had to get the proper kit before I returned. That nylon overall was horrible, ridiculously hot and itchy and I for one was very pleased I only wore it the once.

My final PPE was cotton based orange Hi-Viz short sleeved T-shirts and orange cotton trousers.

I did the job and they were hung in the wardrobe about 2008.

Last year a friend was here and saying he was going to fancy dress party and needed to sort his costume as part of Village People, yes result - a bit more space in the wardrobe

EDIT: One of my regular H&S discussions was about ID cards which on many sites had to be worn, either clipped on or halyard. Hmmm: working in plant rooms with rotating machinery?

We should wear orange, but be it orange or yellow they are not that worried, we should have a certain class of safety boot but again as long as safety boots are worn not that worried, there is a point as it is a heritage railway that the orange clothing is not really photogenic, so we do tend to hide when a train is coming, but the main point is we must look like railway workers, as if we look like the public, people may follow us when we cross the track. It does not matter if a station masters uniform, or overalls, but we must look like workers.

But I don't work on electrics any more, done that all my life, now retired I want to do something different, normally painting, but I enjoy working on the heritage railway. I suppose technically they should provide PPE, but so many only do a week a year, it would cost a fortune for the people only there for a week.

ericmark said:

Fluorescent strips can be sown on to most materials, I remember being issued with a fluorescent tab in the building of Connah's Quay power station, which we all wore under our overalls, we were of course stopped, and questioned, and we said overalls as the name suggests go over all, and are to stop any loose clothing from getting caught in machinery, and health and safety required we wear them, and as long as they were prepared to issue a statement to the union to say overalls are no longer required, we would be happy to stop wearing them, as they are rather hot.

We were issued with overalls with fluorescent strips instead. Main material was cotton.

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The retroreflective strips (they aren't fluorescent) are really only useful in the dark, with vehicle headlights.

OwainDIYer said:

The retroreflective strips (they aren't fluorescent) are really only useful in the dark, with vehicle headlights.

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I beg to differ:

That's not the normal glass bead stuff.