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With so many new types of safety vests being introduced to the market, more and more attention is being drawn to the testing of these products.

Air Force Safety Vest Testing 

In July of 2003, gate guards at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia tested new light-emitting safety vests.  These vests used fiber-optic light ropes, which were woven through the mesh of the vest.  More traditional reflective materials were used, as well. 

These new vests were designed specifically with directing traffic in mind.  For traditional reflective material to be effective, it needs to be hit by light.  Unfortunately, the headlights of cars don’t always hit the reflective material in time for a driver to see the person wearing the safety vest.  These new vests were designed to provide the light necessary to make the material reflective at all times. 

The Air Combat Command security forces bought 60 of these vests and distributed 18 of them to the 1^st Security Forces Squadron for testing.  The guards wore these vests for one month, with orders to provide feedback to command officials.  Guards stated that motorists reported they were better able to see them.  Furthermore, the guards felt safer in the new vests. 

Safety Science Monitor Testing 

Other testing of safety vests takes a more scientific approach then the “wear it and see what happens” method that was used by the Air Force.  In Australia, a group of researchers decided to formulate a method for testing the visibility of safety vests for use by police officers. 

The researchers first tested safety vests for their ability to stand up to heat and industrial washing.  They also visually inspected safety vests for their quality and workmanship.  As a result of this pre-selection process, two forms of safety vest were disqualified from the research and two were chosen to be studied.

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