Hi Vis Outside Shoulder Straps?

[CampMeeting]

Hello all.

I'm wondering about the possibility of fastening reflective webbing to the outside of my planting bags for a contract that requires hi vis. I have a "Pioneer Safety Sash" (http://www.pioneerprotectiveproducts.co ... AFETY+SASH), and have spent a few minutes messing around with it and my planting bags.

The reason this interests me is because I've found it rather inconvenient to maintain high visibility with the layering required when coastal planting - particularly while wearing rain gear. In general I find the hi-vis shirts to fit poorly as well. I think a benefit of this approach is that the bags and straps actually block quite a bit of the reflective strips under my usual configuration.

Does anyone know if this has been tried before? Would it simply be up to the client to okay something like this, or does Worksafe actually dictate when hi vis is required and what is acceptable?

Thanks for reading.

[Scooter]

There's a regulation that states that you have to have a certain minimum number of square inches of reflective material. I'm not sure what the number is offhand, and I'm not sure how heavily that's enforced.

But have you ever considered just getting a high-vis raincoat? I wore high-vis webbed t-shirts all the time last year but I generally got a bit annoyed when it was raining and I had to wear a vest on top of the rain gear. I was just going to pick up a high-vis raincoat this year since I need new rain gear anyway.

[chrisdunn]

In most cases, part of the hi viz is having "X" number of square inches of bright orange or yellow non-reflective cloth too.

So you have the reflective material, and the bright orange or yellow to go with it.

I get mine from Marks. They're long sleeved cotton shirts. Very comfortable, but too expensive. Like 60 bucks.

[CampMeeting]

In most cases, part of the hi viz is having "X" number of square inches of bright orange or yellow non-reflective cloth too.

So you have the reflective material, and the bright orange or yellow to go with it.

I get mine from Marks. They're long sleeved cotton shirts. Very comfortable, but too expensive. Like 60 bucks.

I had not considered the non-reflective cloth part of it. I know the shirts you're talking about, but I haven't had any luck finding one in Vancouver.

I've seen a few hi vis rain jackets around, but they always seem really heavy and not suitable for planting. I've previously used a Helly Hansen Voss jacket, which is just a thin stretchy pvc. Many planters have the button up orange jackets, but mine happens to be black with a zipper (and a slightly better cut). If something like that were available in hi vis I would buy it.

What do you guys do for hi vis when wearing rain gear?

Thanks for the responses.

[retrovertigo]

You might also use fluorescent spray paint on the bags themselves. I've seen people do that before and it worked, went over well, but ultimately these things will be decided on a contract-by-contract basis, regardless of 'regulations'. I know that in the spring coastal season, our employer is fairly lax on high-vis because of how annoying it is to constantly change layers with the rain. In the fall, it's the opposite - very strict on high-vis, easy going with hardhats because of the heat.

[chrisdunn]

Rainforest by Big K Brand Clothing

Number K8080. Very comfortable in the rain and snow. I got mine in a saw shop but I see their vancover website offers phone in orders. Really strong jackets, I haven't torn mine on branches or anything, that would be almost impossible.

Mark's pulls the cotton long sleeve hi viz shirts in the winter I guess because they figure no one wants to buy one now. I asked about them a couple of months ago because I wanted another. They'll be back out when they put their winter stuff away.