It is important to know what is the rule that unites workwear with high visibility to avoid confusion between two terms that are usually used as interchangeable, although they are not. To achieve this, you also have to know what PPE is and how it relates to high-visibility clothing and workwear.

“Personal protective equipment”, or PPE, is any equipment worn by a worker to avoid risks that may threaten their health or safety in the work environment. This clothing has a design that responds to technical regulations, for each type of work.

However, there are work clothes and equipment that are used for the protection of workers in the work environment, which are not considered PPE. Examples of this type of clothing are the uniforms of hospitality, supermarkets, flight attendants, police, among others, and self-defense material. 

Therefore, not all workwear is, at the same time, high-visibility clothing. To understand more about this issue, it is convenient to know the NTP 718, a guide of good practices of the Institute of Safety and Hygiene at Work, on high-visibility signaling clothing. 

NTP 718: the standard that unites workwear with high-visibility

NTP 718 sets out the recommendations for wearing high-visibility workwear. According to this document, “high-visibility signaling clothing is intended to visually signal the presence of the user, so that it is detected in risk conditions, under any type of daylight and under the light of the headlights of a vehicle moving in the dark“.

According to NTP 718, high-visibility garments must be basically made of two materials: fluorescent and retroreflective. The first are responsible for converting ultraviolet light into visible light, which allows increasing visibility in daylight. The latter, on the other hand, reflect the light that reaches them in the direction from which it comes.

NTP 718 also refers to a type of high-visibility clothing, which is made from combined material. The joint use of fluorescent materials with retroreflective materials turns out to be the most recommended for certain conditions and types of work.

standard unites high visibility workwear

High visibility occupational protective clothing

There is a classification that divides high-visibility clothing into three classes, which is mentioned in the NTP 718 recommendations and which is regulated in the ISO 20471 standards:

standard unites high visibility workwear
  • Class 3 High Visibility Clothing: These garments provide a higher degree of protection than the rest. Its design must cover the upper extremities and must be made to avoid substantial damage by corrosive or flammable materials, in addition to including retroreflective tapes.
  • High visibility clothing class 2: represents an intermediate level of protection whose main characteristic is the absence of sleeves for the upper extremities. However, this clothing requires workers to perform in places of greater visibility, since they are usually employed for road work.
  • High visibility clothing class 1: as the lowest level according to the ISO 20471 standard, it implies that it meets the minimum safety conditions for outdoor work.

At T2S Ibérica we have high visibility PPE that complies with all established standards and recommendations. In our catalog we have garments of all kinds that guarantee the highest safety in work environments of any kind that require the use of these equipment.

Each of the garments in our catalog has a technical sheet in which the standards to which it responds and the class to which they belong are specified. 

Contact our sales team to find out what kind of high-visibility protective clothing you need for your company

To ensure that you acquire high-visibility workwear that meets all established requirements, we invite you to contact our sales team. In T2S Ibérica we are aware of the needs and requirements of each environment. 

You can do so, without any commitment, by calling the number 93 848 05 68, sending an email to [email protected], or through our contact form. We will be happy to advise you!