Flagger safety vest

Road safety vests have a history going back two decades. Although the advice on road safety to pedestrians, roadside workers, cyclists and motorcyclists has consistently been to wear bright clothing to be seen, it is only as traffic densities increased markedly from the 1970s in the West that demand has come for custom-made reflective safety gear.

This increase in traffic is due to various factors: More women going to work; the decline in the use of public transport due to under investment, increased leisure usage of the car and teenagers being given their own cars. Trends that are unlikely to reverse.

Clearly the increase in road traffic brought with it increased risk of road accidents. The main victims were young people playing in the streets or making their way by foot to and from school and also employees of utility companies or local government transport departments who often have to work beside roads in very busy traffic conditions.

Several safety initiatives were brought in for both workers and school children, including safety vests, and some of this have become mandatory by law in various states in the US and countries in Europe. For example, Italy and France have made it mandatory for roadside workers to wear reflective vests. In GB, the Department of Transport has a health and safety code with guidelines on laying traffic cones and use of signs, temporary traffic lights and safety clothing, including reflective vests. Various US states have followed suit.

These changes in the work place have been driven by the rise of the compensation culture with the threat of both litigation and damage to reputation. More recently, charges of corporate manslaughter have been brought against some companies for failing to observe health and safety measures. The various measures taken with schoolchildren were naturally driven by parental and public concern.

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