Safety Vests Blog

Are you interested in putting your company’s logo on a particular vest, but don’t know where to start? We’ve re-created the online ordering process to make it hassle free for you to get the vest or jacket you want printed on.

Step 1:

Visit SafetyVests.com and shop for the vest you want to customize. It’s easy to narrow down your results whether you are looking for a class 2 vest or lime green vest by using the left hand navigation once you click on the “Vest Styles” tab at the top of the page.

Step 2:

Once you are on the item’s page, click the “Customize & Order” tab:

Step 3:

Select the number of vests as well as sizing (minimum order of 12 for silk screen) and specify weather you want your item Silk Screened (Most Popular Option) or Vinyl Cad Cut (Great for Jackets and Small Orders). Then just answer the remaining questions on the customization page.

Step 4:

Add to your cart, and once we finalize your order, we’ll send you an Approval Package. After receiving your signed Approval Forms, we’ll begin printing your custom order. Typical delivery time is 1-2 weeks (except Rush Orders) once we receive your signed Approval Forms.

ANSI stands for the American National Standards Institute, and they administer the standards for safety vests and other safety apparel.  There are many factors that go into the ANSI ratings, such as the amount and placement reflective material, the style of vest, and the background material.  The ANSI specifies three different classes of safety vests, based on the environment you work in.

ANSI Class 2 safety vests:  These vests are for workers who need greater visibility in poor weather conditions, people who work near heavy machinery, and those whose activities occur near roadways where the speed limit is higher than 25 miles per hour.  These are sleeveless vests with 775 square inches of background material and 201 square inches of reflective material.  Here are a few examples of workers who need to wear Class 2 vests:

• Forestry Workers
• Law Enforcement Personnel
• School Crossing Guards
• Airport Baggage Handlers & Ground Crew
• Parking and Toll Gate Personnel

ANSI Class 3 safety vests:  These vests are for workers in high risk environments, as they provide the highest level of visibility.  They are required for workers who work in traffic exceeding 50 miles per hour and are good for a wide range of weather conditions.  These vests have sleeves, and have 1240 square inches of background material and 310 square inches of reflective material.  Here are a few examples of workers who need to wear Class 3 vests:

• Accident Site Investigators
• Emergency Responders
• Railway Workers
• Utility Workers
• Survey & Flagging Crews

ANSI 207-2006 safety vests: These vests are for people who work in the public service industry, including law enforcement, emergency responders, fire officials, and DOT personnel.  These vests can be color-coded and customized for individual industries and most are breakaway vest.  Theses vests are required to have at least 450 square inches of background material and 201 square inches of reflective material.  Here are a few examples of public service officials who wear 207-2006 safety vests:

• Firemen
• EMS
• Police
• Sheriffs

There are also non-ANSI safety vests available for workers who have sufficient distance from traffic that that is slower than 25 miles per hour and are doing activities that still allow them to pay attention to oncoming traffic.  These are sleeveless vests that have little or no reflective tape and can come in colors other than high visibility lime and orange.  Here are a few examples of workers who can wear non-ANSI vests:

• Delivery Vehicle Drivers
• Parking Service Attendants
• Shopping Cart Retrievers

Orange is one of the most common colors for safety clothing, and safety vests are no exception!  Orange is a great color for high visibility clothing because it offers a complementary contrast to the blue of the sky, which makes your orange vest extra noticeable.  Orange safety vests come in a variety of styles, ANSI ratings, materials, and brands.  To give you an idea of all of the safety vest options, check out a few of our best sellers!

Polyester Mesh Safety Vest: The mesh of this vest makes it extremely breathable, and it features Velcro tab closures to make it easy to put on and take off.  It even has elastic side straps that make it fit most body sizes and types.

Surveyor Safety Vest: This surveyor vest is ANSI Class 2 compliant, and comes with ten different pockets to keep everything you need handy. It also has reflective and yellow stripes that helps insure that you really stand out.

Short Sleeve Class 3 Safety Vest:  ANSI Class 3 safety vests offer the highest level of visibility available.  It has short sleeves and a zipper closure, so you can be sure this vest will stay on without slipping around.  It even has an inside pocket that is perfect for holding your cell phone or wallet.

Two Tone Breakaway Safety Vest:  This vest has one horizontal and two vertical stripes of reflective tape trimmed with yellow, which means you will be impossible to miss.  It also features five pockets and expandable sides to make it perfect for workers in every industry.

To add an extra touch to your safety vest, get it personalized with your company name and logo!  These customized safety vests are a great way to promote your business and make your vests look professional.  There are three different personalization options: silk screen, vinyl CAD cut, and embroidery. 

Silk Screened Safety Vests:  This is the most popular and economical choice for safety vest customization.  You have over forty silk screen ink colors options that can be used in a 1-color, 2-color, 3-color, or 4-color graphic.  Silk Screening is the best option for large orders as it is the fastest method. 

Vinyl CAD Cut Safety Vests:  This option has nearly 40 color options to choose from to use in a 1-color or 2-color graphic.  There is even a silver reflective option, which is perfect for those who work in the dark or other low visibility conditions. 

Embroidered Safety Vests:  This options allows for unlimited color options and personalization on both the front and back of the safety vest.  Pricing is based on the stitch count, so simple graphics cost less, while more complex images are more due to the high stitch count necessary. 

With all of the options available, it will be easy to find the customization type that is perfect for your needs.  For more information, fill out a FREE Safety Vest Customization Quote or call 1-800-975-0986 to talk to a customer service representative.

With the weather warming up more people are working outside in areas where high-visibility clothing is a necessity, making now the perfect time to get  of the safety vest you need! But which one to choose? We understand that sorting through all of the safety vest options that are out there can be a daunting task, especially when you are looking for something specific.  To make things easier, we have created a Safety Vest Guide to make it easy to narrow down your search until you find the vest you need!

The guide is broken down into six vest categories.  The first is Vest Style, which is based on the ANSI rating of safety vests.  You can choose from ANSI Class 2, ANSI Class 3, ANSI 207-2006, Non-ANSI, or no preference.  The Style is important because different industries have different Safety Vest requirements that must be adhered to, so before choosing a Safety Vest it is important to check which vest is needed in your workplace.

The second characteristic is Vest Material, where you can choose between Mesh, Solid, Half Mesh Half Solid, or no preference.   The third category is Vest Color, and you have the option of Yellow-Lime Green, Orange, Other, or no preference.  The category Other designates select specialty vests that are available in non high-visibility colors such as blue, red, green, and black.  The fourth group is Closure Type, with the choices being Zipper, Velcro, or no preference.

The fifth category is Vest Design.  This includes Flame Resistant, Surveyors Vest, Break Away, Chevron, or no preference.  Based upon your job duties, you may need protection against fire, extra pockets, a vest that is easy get on and off, or more reflective striping for extra visibility.  Finally, the sixth and last group is Brand.  We have all of the top brands, so if you are looking for a specific Safety Vest brand, you can pick just the one you wanted.  Some of the biggest brands of safety vests include ERB Safety, OccuNomix, Ok-1, PIP, Radwear, and River City.

We also have Selection Guides to help you choose Hard Hats and Work Gloves too! Our Selection Guides give you more information on every option in every category, and also allows you to skip categories that you are unsure of or do not have a preference for.  With these tools, it will be easy for you to find all of the safety gear that is perfect for you!

As the temperatures soar, working outside becomes miserable and keeping cool becomes a top priority.  In order to make the heat more bearable, investing in a cooling vest becomes essential.  With the variety of cooling vests available, it is easy to find one that suits your needs.  To help you find the vest that works best for you, we compiled a list with information on different types.

Reflective Cooling Vest: Perfect for those of you who need to be highly visible when working, a reflective cooling vest keeps you comfortable and safe.  Whether you work in construction, landscape, law enforcement, or any other job that usually requires reflective safety gear, this cooling reflective safety vest will keep you cool for hours.

Slim-Fit Cooling Vest: The unique slim-line design of this vest allows for more flexibility and dexterity of movement.  If you generally have to wear an ANSI rated safety vest, this cooling vest is formfitting enough to be able to be worn underneath other garments.

Pullover Cooling Vest: The Pullover style of this cooling vest makes it easy to throw on when you need to fight that midday sun, and take off when it starts to cool down.  It also features expandable sides with adjustable buckles to fit every body.  That, coupled with the super-absorbent cooling crystals the vest uses, makes this vest a great choice.

E-Cooline Cooling Vest:  The unique material, e-cooline, used for this vest helps you maintain your core body temperature to avoid overheating.  The vest simply needs to be soaked in water to give you all day cooling comfort.   And no need to worry about the vest getting you wet—the lining keeps you dry, and it even eliminates perspiration and body odors!

Any of these vests will keep you cool all summer long–it’s up to you to decide which one is best for you!

Could the traditional safety vest be evolving? Check out this cool design called the H3 vest. This prototype designed by Martin Gschwandtl is still a far off concept for some. The design could be a winner at the upcoming iF design awards in Hanover.

The basic idea behind the design stems from construction workers’ abilities to work after an injury. A majority of workers are not able to come back and work efficiently at their jobs after sustaining and work-related injury. While safety gear like hard hats, safety vests and fall protection can help prevent workers from getting injured, they can’t do anything to help workers after an injury has already happened. That’s where this H3 vest comes into play.

The H3 vest is designed to help provide workers with extra power. Using the same technology as artificial muscles,  the arm piece attached to the vest is supposed to give the wearer with the muscle power they need to complete a job. Right now, the H3 vest also has a power drill attachment that can be safely used by the wearer. If the vest was made in high visibility colors and lengthened, it could also double as an ANSI approved safety vest.

The jury is still out on whether the H3 vest would be a cost-effective purchase for construction companies. Still, it’s interesting and exciting to see designers putting thought and creativity into worker safety.

The weather in 2011 has been crazy so far, with much of the country seeing major winter storms. In many circumstances, work must continue. When you’re working in bad weather conditions, you can wear reflective rain suits instead of regular safety vests. Reflective rain gear can include rain jackets, rain pants and three-piece rain sets.

Reflective rain jackets have weatherproof outer shells designed to repel water. They also have a breathable layer coating, usually made from polyurethane, so you can stay as dry and comfortable as possible while you work. Most ANSI approved rain jackets are considered ANSI class 3 certified, because of the amount of high visibility material and reflective striping. During colder working conditions, you may want to consider a heavy-duty bomber jacket.

Along with rain jackets, you can also wear reflective rain pants. ANSI approved rain pants are known as class E certified. Made from water-resistant material, ANSI rain pants have several pockets to protect small work tools and items.

While rain jackets and rain pants are the most common rain wear items, you can also find long rain suits with hoods, reflective overalls and hi viz rain boots. Find the safety clothing that best suits the needs of your job site, so you can stay safe and healthy in inclement weather conditions.

If you’re working outdoors this winter, you need more than just a safety vest to keep you warm! Find work gloves for your industry that can give you hand protection and warmth.

Leather work gloves can be used for industries like construction, landscaping, gardening, ranching, welding and general purpose hand protection. The main types of leather gloves are leather drivers and leather palms, which are gloves with leather on their palms.

Cut resistant gloves are used for protection against cuts and abrasions. These work gloves are commonly used for automotive, material handling, food handling and glass handling purposes. Cut resistant gloves are typically made from materials like kevlar, dyneema, steel and spectra.

You can also find chemical resistant gloves for janitorial, chemical lab, chemical handling and food handling purposes. Chemical gloves are made from latex, vinyl, butyl, nitrile, PVC and neoprene. These same materials are used to make disposable gloves, but chemical handling gloves are much stronger.

For general purpose work gloves, cotton gloves, canvas gloves, string knit gloves and jersey gloves are the most popular kinds. These types of work gloves are excellent for hand protection, as well as keeping your hands warm while you work. Stay warm this winter with your safety vests, safety jackets and work gloves!

So you know you need to wear a safety vest at your job, but which kind? There are a few styles of ANSI approved vests to choose from, and they are required for different types of job sites or industries.

What’s the difference? The various ANSI classes are distinguished by the amount of high visibility and retro-reflective material they have.

ANSI Class 2 Safety Vests: These safety vests are required for workers near traffic between 25-50 mph, heavy machinery, inclement weather and low visibility conditions. ANSI class 2 vests are the most commonly required safety vests. You can also find ANSI class 2 jackets and t-shirts.

ANSI Class 3 Safety Vests: Class 3 vests are required for workers near traffic exceeding 50 mph and very dark or “no visibility” conditions. These traffic safety vests have longer sleeves than class 2 vests, in order to meet the requirements for hi-viz and reflective material. In addition to vests, ANSI class 3 apparel can include safety jackets and long-sleeve shirts. Wearing an ANSI class 2 safety vest with ANSI class E safety pants together qualifies as an ANSI class 3 outfit.

ANSI 207-2006 Safety Vests: Also known as Public Safety Vests, these vests are required for public officials like law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders. ANSI 207-2006 vests have a similar amount of reflective material as class 2 vests, but with breakaway capabilities. This feature allows vests to be removed quickly in the incident of entanglement or another emergency. Public safety vests are also usually a looser fit, because they are often worn over safety equipment.

Non-ANSI Safety Vests: If it’s clearly stated that your job site does not require an ANSI certified vest, non-ANSI vests are an inexpensive alternative. Non-ANSI vests are high visibility material, often with a small amount of reflective striping.

If you are still unsure which safety vest is right for you, or want to see safety vests with special features, please see our interactive Safety Vest Guide.