ISO 20471 Class 2 standard: signaling clothing
Working in conditions where visibility is poor and the risk of an accident is quite high requires the wearing of high-visibility clothing. High-visibility clothing allows the user in low light conditions to carry out his work nearby without danger, but also to signal the presence of the user to ensure everyone's safety, true category PPE, signaling clothing must meet standards. The requirements for its design and use are defined by the ISO 20471 Class 2 standard. To find out more about this new regulation, discover how it is stricter than the old EN 471 standard and why Class 2 provides more security than Class 1.
EN ISO 20471 vs. EN 471
The new ISO 20471 standard is different from the old EN 471 standard in several respects. Already, it uses only one type of performance, the X value (the surface area of the retroreflective and fluorescent materials) to indicate the class in which the type of signaling clothing falls. And since high-visibility clothing must all have reflective properties and high fluorescence, the performance given by the Y value is no longer used in this new ISO 20471 standard.
The ISO 20471 standard also defines that the number of washes supported by reflective strips and fluorescent fabric must be indicated by the manufacturer. On the old EN 471 standard, this only concerned reflective material.
The X value according to ISO 20471
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the ISO 20471 standard only defines a single performance value, that relating to the surface area of retroreflective and fluorescent materials. The X value therefore takes into account the type and effectiveness of the fluorescent fabric and the retroreflective material.
The fluorescent fabric is essential for the safety of the wearer of the signaling garment. It allows him to ensure visibility day and night. To do this, the fluorescent material converts non-visible light such as ultraviolet light into visible light. The color of the material (yellow, orange or red-orange) manifests itself differently depending on the situation and the brightness.
As for the retroreflective material, it ensures visibility at night under a light source such as a spotlight or a car headlight. It has the ability to reflect light, it has the property of returning it.
Class 2 high visibility clothing
According to the ISO 20471 standard, Class 2 signaling clothing for professional use must be designed to offer the best visibility to avoid any dangerous situations. They can be worn on construction sites such as public works, work on telephone lines, airport runways or situations in low light, such as winter or at the end of the day all year round. Class 2 also means that the high visibility garment can be used on the road with traffic limited to 50 km/h.
For the specific design of Class 2 high visibility garment, the fluorescent area must be 0.50 m² and the reflective area must be 0.13 m².