Safety apparel is any piece of clothing worn to “reduce road worker fatalities caused by motor vehicles,” according to the Department of Transportation (DOT). Typically, safety apparel comes in the form of leather palm gloves and high-visibility vests. For haulers, gloves are important to protect your hands from injury when binding and unbinding loads, while high-visibility vests are important if you ever have to load or unload at night.
Safety apparel also includes gear, including yellow safety helmets (also called construction helmets), and anti-scratch glasses with clear lenses, designed to protect people from physical injury.
Safety accessories include traffic cones and warning triangles. These accessories create barriers traffic won’t cross in order to clear a space on the road to work, which is important if you need to tow a car or pick up a load in an area with traffic.
When it comes to reflective vests, safety industrial palm leather gloves, and yellow safety helmets, make sure you’re using a size that fits you securely.
Safety vests are regulated by the American National Standards Institute, in compliance with the Department of Transportation. Safety vests must be either Class 2 or Class 3 in order to meet ANSI standards. ANSI classifies vests based on their visibility and fabric quality.
Before you buy any cones, make sure the cones you purchase meet the regulations set by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, as well as state-specific regulations.
If you’re working in a high speed area (where traffic is over 45 miles per hour), or if you’re working at night, you need traffic safety cones that are at least 28 inches tall.
All safety cones must be highly visible. They must be fluorescent red-orange or fluorescent yellow-orange; traffic cones used at night, in poor weather conditions, or during high traffic scenarios, need to have two white reflective bands that are 4”-6” wide, creating alternating orange-and-white stripes. Additionally, flashing lights may be added to the tops of the cones to make them even more visible.
Cones need to be stable enough that they won’t accidentally fall down or get blown over. It’s fine to weigh down cones or double them up if that’s what it takes to keep them stable.
Safety apparel is mandatory. According to the Department of Transportation, “Any worker whose duties place him in a situation where he is on foot in the right of way on a federally funded highway must wear safety vests.”
Class 1:
This fluorescent lime green vest with vertical reflectors gives you extra visibility when you have to step out of your truck at night. It doesn’t meet DOT standards for working on a highway. Its one-size fits all.
Class 2:
This reflective, fluorescent yellow vest is DOT-approved for working in conditions where traffic is 25 - 40 mph.
Class 3:
This reflective, fluorescent yellow vest has elastic sides and is one-size fits all. This vest is DOT-approved to wear when working on a road where traffic speeds are over 40 mph.
Reflective safety vests will note their ANSI classification. For other safety products, look at the quality of materials and see if their components meet DOT standards.