Category: safety clothing

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HIGH-VISIBILITY CLOTHING

Please welcome Mike Moloney as Canada Moto Guide’s safety columnist. Mike is an advanced motorcycle instructor with RoSPA, Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. In 1983, Mike founded The Sportbike Rally, which took place in Parry Sound. Mike is a veteran of dozens of self-organized international tours and cites his favorite destination as, “next”.

 

Do you consciously choose to wear high-visibility (hi-vis) motorcycle gear such as a jacket, vest or helmet? Why? Does it simply seem like a sensible idea, or is it because of a traffic incident where you weren’t seen?

 

And what exactly do we mean by hi-vis clothing? Wikipedia describes it as “any clothing is worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matte property or a color that is easily discernible from any background.” That’s pretty much the opposite of camouflage, which is “the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment.”

 

Brightly colored clothing is not only easier to see, but it registers with more priority to the human eye.

 

Perhaps, on your motorcycle, you’ve experienced the distinct displeasure of being on the receiving end of the time-worn phrase, “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

An accompanying police accident report might contain the line, “The driver looked, but failed to see”, which is useful only to a statistician. While car drivers are not deliberately trying to cause us harm there remains the unfortunate fact that, all too often, we are not being seen.

 

Why is this? Like it or not, we are part of the problem. There is an assumption among riders, a common belief, that we are being seen, not just merely ignored, but there are many factors that can determine our visibility to others. Let’s start with Global Precedence.

 

Global Precedence is the visual big picture. Generally speaking, a motorcycle is only a small portion of the big “global” picture, particularly when head-on to an approaching vehicle. A person’s eyes, and recognition, go to the largest objects first. Our brains process that information almost twice as fast as the local aspects. If something, anything, is larger and visually more compelling, that is where another road user is most likely to first focus their attention. It takes precedence.

Roger Foster, seen (easily) while out for a ride near Las Vegas on his Suzuki, jumps out visually on a grey day.

 

Making it work

Working from empirical data, safety regulators in many countries now stipulate a certain amount of retro-reflective material for motorcycle jackets. This usually involves a minimum amount of striping or piping on areas such as shoulder and arms. In some places, such as France, it even includes helmets (18 square cm for French heads, if you must know). A better strategy is for the entire area of the jacket, vest or helmet to be one luminescent color, making you appear as both a brighter and larger object.

 

“But”, we hear some riders say, “I’ll look like a dweeb”.  Well, we know that fashion is fickle and subjective but if Harley-Davidson can see the benefits of including plenty of hi-vis safety clothing in its catalog – although it does tend to orange for some reason – then surely it has passed a key chic-to-wear test.

 

Let’s face it: no one goes to a hospital for the fine dining. Since we’re among the most vulnerable of road users, those things that may be able to give us a distinct safety advantage should be worth our consideration. When you’re the one waiting for the ambulance to arrive, do you want to hear someone say, “Sorry, I didn’t see you”?

 

Bright clothing is just one aspect of providing useful information to other road users. There are also some options for making our machine more visible. Beyond that, we must look within ourselves. Factors such as our position on the road, bearing, and speed is key components of being seen by others. We can look at these in future articles.

 

Alright then, I’m outfitted like a motorized macaw. Can you see me now?

 

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HIGH-VISIBILITY CLOTHING

Please welcome Mike Moloney as Canada Moto Guide’s safety columnist. Mike is an advanced motorcycle instructor with RoSPA, Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. In 1983, Mike founded The Sportbike Rally, which took place in Parry Sound. Mike is a veteran of dozens of self-organized international tours and cites his favorite destination as, “next”.

 

Do you consciously choose to wear high-visibility (hi-vis) motorcycle gear such as a jacket, vest or helmet? Why? Does it simply seem like a sensible idea, or is it because of a traffic incident where you weren’t seen?

 

And what exactly do we mean by hi-vis clothing? Wikipedia describes it as “any clothing is worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matte property or a color that is easily discernible from any background.” That’s pretty much the opposite of camouflage, which is “the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment.”

 

Brightly colored clothing is not only easier to see, but it registers with more priority to the human eye.

 

Perhaps, on your motorcycle, you’ve experienced the distinct displeasure of being on the receiving end of the time-worn phrase, “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

An accompanying police accident report might contain the line, “The driver looked, but failed to see”, which is useful only to a statistician. While car drivers are not deliberately trying to cause us harm there remains the unfortunate fact that, all too often, we are not being seen.

 

Why is this? Like it or not, we are part of the problem. There is an assumption among riders, a common belief, that we are being seen, not just merely ignored, but there are many factors that can determine our visibility to others. Let’s start with Global Precedence.

 

Global Precedence is the visual big picture. Generally speaking, a motorcycle is only a small portion of the big “global” picture, particularly when head-on to an approaching vehicle. A person’s eyes, and recognition, go to the largest objects first. Our brains process that information almost twice as fast as the local aspects. If something, anything, is larger and visually more compelling, that is where another road user is most likely to first focus their attention. It takes precedence.

Roger Foster, seen (easily) while out for a ride near Las Vegas on his Suzuki, jumps out visually on a grey day.

 

Making it work

Working from empirical data, safety regulators in many countries now stipulate a certain amount of retro-reflective material for motorcycle jackets. This usually involves a minimum amount of striping or piping on areas such as shoulder and arms. In some places, such as France, it even includes helmets (18 square cm for French heads, if you must know). A better strategy is for the entire area of the jacket, vest or helmet to be one luminescent color, making you appear as both a brighter and larger object.

 

“But”, we hear some riders say, “I’ll look like a dweeb”.  Well, we know that fashion is fickle and subjective but if Harley-Davidson can see the benefits of including plenty of hi-vis safety clothing in its catalog – although it does tend to orange for some reason – then surely it has passed a key chic-to-wear test.

 

Let’s face it: no one goes to a hospital for the fine dining. Since we’re among the most vulnerable of road users, those things that may be able to give us a distinct safety advantage should be worth our consideration. When you’re the one waiting for the ambulance to arrive, do you want to hear someone say, “Sorry, I didn’t see you”?

 

Bright clothing is just one aspect of providing useful information to other road users. There are also some options for making our machine more visible. Beyond that, we must look within ourselves. Factors such as our position on the road, bearing, and speed is key components of being seen by others. We can look at these in future articles.

 

Alright then, I’m outfitted like a motorized macaw. Can you see me now?

Requirements that any workwear must meet

The purpose of workwear is to protect the worker from the external factors that are harmful and dangerous to his health, with which his professional work is associated. Therefore, when choosing it, it is necessary to ensure that the product meets the following basic requirements:

 

Free cut. Jackets, pants, and overalls cannot limit the movement of a person. In carrying out their duties, the worker should not feel discomfort.

 

Functionality. To increase comfort and convenience, special protective safety clothing of an insulating type can be equipped with patch pockets, built-in pockets, webbing, snap hooks, snap-on insulation, reflective tapes, etc.

 

Physical properties. Special clothes should not get wet in the rain, have dirt-repellent properties, easy to wear off.

Thermal conductivity. In the cold period, the fabric protects the person from heat loss, in the summer it absorbs and removes excess moisture, and also ensures sufficient air exchange.

 

Wear resistance. Regardless of the types of special clothing, durable material should be used to make it. It will serve as protection from external influences and minor injuries.

 

Only by complying with all safety requirements, an employer can create a comfortable and safe working environment for his employees, as well as legally protect himself from possible legal consequences in case of possible accidents and injuries at work.

What can I do if an employee refuses to wear safety clothing?

Within our construction company, wearing safety clothing is of course mandatory. Now, one of the employees is definitely refusing to put on his sawing trousers if it is more than 25 ° C. Last Wednesday it was that time again. He was walking in his shorts. I had a spirited conversation with him, but he remains stubborn. What now?

 

The responsibility of employers for the safety of employees goes very far. That is why an employer may also take far-reaching measures if employees do not comply with the safety regulations. If a spirited conversation does not help, I would refuse the man access to his workplace and send him a letter with an official warning and the announcement that he can only go back to work when he wears his saw pants. It can also help you to state in advance that, as long as he is unable to work, for this reason, he is also not entitled to wages. Because although an employee is almost always entitled to continued payment of wages, even if he is suspended, for example, in this case, the employee himself chooses not to work, namely by refusing to wear his saw pants.

Jacket Advance X-TREEm, EN 20471

At Elmia Wood, the STIHL jacket features the Advance X-TREEm jacket. The X-TREEm safety clothing was launched last year and is STIHL’s most advanced forest clothing that also won the award for design and function (IF Design Award). Now the jacket has been updated for the Swedish market, which is the only one in Europe that demands certified jacket according to EN 20471. Sales start takes place during the autumn.

The new jacket in the X-TREEm series has many features in addition to high visibility. Breathable fabric provides high comfort while keeping wet away and ProElast fabric parts for maximum mobility in all directions and high breathability. To cope with tough stresses, the clothes have ceramic-coated reinforcements on the knees and elbows and a special DotGrip tear protector on the shoulder part. The sleeves are removable for hot days and there are adjustable air holes to further enhance comfort. The jacket also has a fastening option for a hand saw protection, specially designed for arborists who work with boundary saws.

With brains and technology

“What the man does with power makes the woman with technology and brains”, says Manfred Bader, freelance forestry master. Under his guidance, six interested women now learned how to use the chainsaw.

The first of two course days was entirely devoted to the theory: Felling techniques were involved, as well as the construction, maintenance and care of the chainsaw, and a first aid course was also on the program.

In safety clothing and armed with a power saw, it went on the second day. At a felled tree, the women – they mostly came from surrounding communities – practiced cutting techniques, before they went to sell themselves.

When asked why there is an extra chainsaw course for women and the demand for them continues to increase, the experts learned that there are more and more women owning a piece of woodland. But that’s not necessarily the main reason. The fact that it is simply funnier among women and they can ask open questions. And: In a mixed course, they would sometimes be treated by the participating men. “As if we were not done for the job and at home we were only allowed to do the initial work,” said one participant.

Instructor Bader has specifically addressed in his course that women have to deal with the handling of the chainsaw unlike men and answered their questions. The course is not means simpler or work in the forest is less dangerous. Bader emphasizes.

This is also confirmed by district manager Silvia from the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry: “Forestry is one of the most dangerous jobs, which are why you always have to be in the forest for at least two,” said Silvia. But tree felling is not only dangerous for the workers. Even walkers disregarded again and again the barriers and thus put themselves in mortal danger. “Blocked roads may under no circumstances be entered,” Silvia warned.

For one falling tree can outline another. This is not always aware of hikers. Again and again, there are fatal accidents such as a cyclist, which disregarded the barrier and was killed by a tree, said Silvia.

As new methods and techniques for tree-growing are developed over time, Bader recommended visiting such a course every few years, not just to learn new things but also to refresh what he has learned.

Police forced to use outdated bulletproof vests

Brussels some have been for more than two years and their ballistic resistance is no longer guaranteed.

 

Polemic within the Midi police zone, which covers the territories of Anderlecht, Forest and Saint-Gilles! According to our information, members of the staff of the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC), sort of special units of the federal police but at the local level, use daily Class 4 bulletproof safety vests, the most resistant, for missions which are attributed to them. But it comes back to us that all of these bulletproof vests are out of date since last year.

 

When a vest is out of date, it means that the structure no longer guarantees the safety of the officer because of several factors including humidity. “Result: the impacts are much heavier which leads to an increased risk of bruises, bruises or fractures of police intervention,” says Alain, police advisor of the Midi area, who arrested the police college.

 

But that’s not all. The 21 staff members of BAC Midi Zone use a kit to transfer Level 2 inmates, considered dangerous. “Despite the increase in level 2 prisoner transfers that LAC staff members have been facing for several months, they have only one kit, which led them last year to borrow material from the federal police to make the transfer of detainees in the best possible security conditions for them and for the prisoners concerned who must also wear these reflective vests, “adds Alain.

 

Only here, the class 4 bulletproof vests that are in this kit are also out of date since … 2014. The parties were therefore forced to make their own makeshift repairs to make the vests operational.

 

On the side of the Midi police zone, we recognize that problems have occurred in the delivery, but that the situation is now in order. “We ordered 30 vests last year, divided between the different police services,” said Marie Verbose, spokeswoman for the area. “In addition, an order was made for 80 additional chasubles that were delivered last week and will soon be distributed to BAC staff.”

 

The Midi police zone is a candidate to be a pilot zone to equip some of its personnel with tasters, these electric impulse guns. The information was confirmed by the spokesperson for the area. An idea that had already been proposed by police advisor Alain: “This non-lethal weapon sends two electrodes that release a discharge that temporarily blocks the nervous system and briefly immobilizes the affected person to allow the police to intervene and proceed with his arrest “, commented Alain in safety clothing, police advisor in the Midi area, who arrested the college.”These tasters would prevent the police from having to use their service weapon to ensure their integrity while guaranteeing the safety of those arrested.”

 

Attention, site: children welcome

So, dear construction worker, now take a break and let the children ran with their reflective vest! They can also do this: tap nails into boards, put stones on mortar until it bangs, or drill holes in concrete, which it just dusts!

 

The center management of the future Holston Gallery shows heart for all the small builders who, with their parents in the past months, have observed the construction work at Neumunster’s largest building site, sometimes with a longing, and invites to the children’s construction site: May, children from 4 to 8 years of age can sometimes look around the building site, which so far they have only been able to marvel at from the outside.

 

Experts show them how to go with the plastering, walls, roofing and the carpenter, and of course the young guests are allowed to try their hand at expert craftsmanship. Helmet on, safety vest on and off you go!

 

The children get an insight into the real construction site day and may ask the accompanying masters the famous holes in the belly: What was the tallest crane? What weighs a wall concrete? Or what else is urgent to clarify.

 

The center management promises an exciting day at the construction site, with accompanying program and a small surprise. Guests go through the construction site stations in two groups, from 10 am to 2 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm. In between there is ample time to strengthen the little builders.

 

Several teams have already signed up, but there are still vacancies. Visitors should bring solid footwear and weatherproof safety clothing. Further information as well as the registration form can be found on the Internet. Registration is possible until the following Monday, 4 May.

 

These services are on the road in the city

Crimes have always existed. In comparison, the police with safety vest are a modern creation. Once, in the middle Ages, it was a matter of citizenship to muck up tragedy. Anyone who witnessed a crime screamed “Zester und Mario”. And whoever heard the nagging was obliged to help. As it is to this day, everyone was allowed to hold a criminal and give it to the power of the state. Lawyers speak of the right of every person. At that time, however, the duties of every man went on significantly: ordinary citizens had to take on graffiti at night. Who could afford it, bought himself by a “watch money” free. In 1457, the city of Munich finally turned the security indulgence into a general tax and paid with the income. The history of urban security began 560 years ago.

 

If in the course of the centuries one finds for Munich, then the: Previously it went gloomily. The city is becoming more and more secure. At the same time, more and more security personnel in safety clothing are bustling on their streets and alleys, in their tunnels and trains. The city’s new security service is only the most recent example of a variety of protectors, which seems increasingly confused from the outside. Who is responsible for what? Who can do what? And: Does Munich need so much security?

 

The cool look at statistical data should not obscure the view of destiny. Nevertheless, soberness is advisable in heated times. The facts say: Munich was and is the safest city in Germany. And secondly, Munich is becoming safer. In 20 years, the number of crimes fell by 15 per cent. Also the number of violent crimes is declining, twelve percent in ten years.

 

Even if one of the gruesome amok run at the Olympia shopping center in 2016 is particularly painful in the memory, the shots at a young policewoman last week, or when one thinks of the death – such controversy is not a new phenomenon. The terrorist attack on the Oktoberfest is now 37 years. The Olympic assassination happened 44 years ago. And almost 100 years ago Minister President Kurt Eisner was shot dead in the street.

 

Over the past decades, the city has increasingly invested in its security. And if one can believe the statistics, it pays off. The latest example is the “municipal public service” of the city, KAD for short. As soon as they are hired and trained, 106 employees are to be on the road mainly at the main station, the Old Botanical Garden. They do not wear any guns, but a reflective vest and a stimulus spray. They are allowed a bit more than the right of everyone. They can make space and fines, search for suspects and, in the future, take them on a guard, which still has to be created. The KAD is to create an additional visible presence in those places in the city, where it is sometimes even more violent. However, it is by no means the only service to ensure order in the city.

Service car: Warning vest is now mandatory

If you are caught without reflective vest, you will have to pay 15 Euro of warning money from tomorrow (1 July). In addition, there may be problems with the insurance in the case of accidents.

 

Whether it is red, yellow or orange: starting tomorrow (Tuesday, July 1), the warning vest becomes mandatory in every car – even in rental cars and company cars. However, this news has not yet spread: 42 percent of the Germans do not know about the new regulation, just as the voucher portal deals.com in a survey. It is true that three quarters of the female (75 per cent) and two thirds of the male vehicle owners (69 per cent) already have a safety vest which has been mandatory in other EU countries for years. This means, however, that more than every fourth vehicle driver (28 percent) must retrofit as soon as possible.

 

The inadequate preparation of German drivers could also be attributed to the fact that 41 per cent consider the need to be unnecessary. This can avenge itself: starting from 1 July threat of 15 Euros, which in the case of the absence of a vest must be paid. If you do not wear safety vests at the place of the accident, it may be that the insurance does not pay.

The safety clothing of DIN standard EN 471 is very cost-effective: it costs from 2 €.