What is Safety Worth?

April 5, 2005
Most ramp personnel wear a safety vest, but what makes one vest different from another? And what are the legal requirements for safety apparel on the ramp?

Most ramp personnel wear a safety vest, but what makes one vest different from another? And what are the legal requirements for safety apparel on the ramp? The new ANSI standard as well as the apparel material qualities can account for the former, but ramp crews wearing high-visibility safety apparel, beyond the simple vest, is a best practice some industry veterans feel is becoming a mitigation must.

ANSI

ANSI, the American National Standards Institute, is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the US voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. In other words, ANSI sets minimum requirements for manufactured products to meet a certain criteria, such as a class, field or size. This simplifies purchasing for end users because they can look for the appropriate criteria and know the manufacturer has met the requirements. At least, that is the case with a reputable manufacturer. Terry Burke, Pro Workwear, has strong feelings about the ANSI standard and encourages buyers to look into the company they get their safety apparel from. Just recently he heard of a manufacturer who claimed to use the 3M reflective tape, but actually used a non-3M look-alike. He also warns that some safety apparel manufacturers claim to meet ANSI standards when they in fact do not.

That being said, there has been a recent change to the ANSI standard dealing with high-visibility safety apparel which expands the standard to establish additional testing requirements for knitted background material, requires certificates of compliance, updates the classification of apparel and includes high-visibility headwear.

Knitted Material Testing: John Trimble, from Transportation Safety Apparel, details the change to the testing of knitted material, commonly known as the mesh background material of vests or other apparel. He says, "in the ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 standard they allowed the test to be given with the mesh material in four layers. However, it has now been changed to two-ply, meaning that the holes in the mesh will have to be much smaller."

Certificate of Compliance: ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 requires testing and certification by an independent, accredited third-party laboratory, says Teresa Kessinger, RPS Manufacturing Solutions. The results are then provided to the manufacturer certifying that it meets the ANSI standards. The manufacturer must have on file the new 2004 compliance certificate stating that that particular model meets a specific class, that all relevant materials have been third-party tested and that the amount of background and reflective materials used meet the requirements. These compliance certificates must be readily available if requested by a distributor or end-user.

Updated Classification: Another essential change, explains Trimble, is the updated classification of safety apparel garments. The 2004 standard eliminates the old reference to vehicle speed in the work environment as a requirement for a certain class of apparel to be worn. Instead, the required performance class references more details about the work environment; including the activities taking place, worker movements, proximity and exposure to traffic, etc.

"With each classification of garment you need to have more background and more reflective material," says RPS' Kessinger, "it just makes it more visible and safer." A class 3 certificated vest (class 3 being the safest rating for apparel) is now required to have at least small sleeves to be ANSI compliant.

Burke of Pro Workwear explains that the reason for the sleeve requirement is the visibility of arm movements. "[Highlighting of the] moving parts of the body are key." Burke also rationalizes that ramp crew probably don't need a Class 3 garment since speeds usually don't reach anywhere near 55 miles per hour or more on the tarmac, however, an enhanced Class 2 garment or an appropriately designed ensemble with the correct luminosity and reflectivity is essential to protect personnel and insure against litigation.

Kessinger also cites the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) study on work-related roadside crashes on why these ANSI standards for safety apparel are necessary. Basically "there are so many accidents in the construction environment we have to do what we can to diminish them," says Kessinger. "We can do that by making sure that workers are visible." And although the exposure on the ramp isn't the same as in construction, the ANSI standard can still save lives.

Headwear: Finally, Trimble relays the addition of high-visibility headwear specifications and approval, which did not previously exist.

Materials and Classifications

Burke's dedication to materials and custom design comes out in his words on safety apparel. "A lot of people want to go traditionally with cheap stuff," he says, but warns against this, citing the luminosity and durability issue. "If you wash your apparel just a couple of times or it is exposed to the sun for long periods of time, it's going to lose luminosity," says Burke.

It's the different fabric blends of cotton and polyester that make the fabric more or less durable. Good quality fabrics that have a very strong luminosity increase safety 100 percent, not to mention are water and wind proof. When you will be using apparel outside everyday, the quality is important, explains Burke. He also champions the use of sun protective fabrics to keep the wearer cool and reduce heat fatigue. The use of a light jacket instead of a vest, even in warm weather, will also greatly reduce the risk of sunburn.

The jacket has a more professional look, according to Burke, which increases personnel pride and quality of work. Jackets, more easily than vests, can incorporate the appropriate luminosity with reflective stripping on all the moving parts, so arms are just as visible as the chest.

Burke also encourages high-visibility pants, shorts and t-shirts be incorporated as safety apparel, creating a uniform, not just something worn over your clothes. "We see a big change coming. They want the whole ensemble," says Burke. "We push apparel instead of an accessory, like a vest."

Burke explains custom designed apparel can also increase airport security. If someone can buy the same vest or jacket used on an airport, they have a better chance of blending in and breaking through the defenses. If the design is not available to such locales, then the commercially bought garment will stand out immediately.

For warm climates, options such as light jackets with sun resistance or materials with mesh backgrounds might be more suitable. With the new mesh requirement, Trimble of TSA offers the new RPS PRISTMATECH mesh, designed specifically to comply with the 2004 standard and available in ANSI orange or lime.

Aerosafe offers a unique safety apparel design with its own light. "The big difference is that the PolyBrite vests are both reflective and illuminated. They have a patented technology that uses an extruded material coupled with LEDs that transfer a steady or flashing light through the reflective material," says David Yuhasz of Aerosafe. "This increases the visibility of an individual or object up to one mile! That's far more than just high visibility fabrics or reflective strips can produce." This increase in the conspicuity only requires two AA batteries or regular watch-style battery, but can really increase safety during evening or bad weather operations.

Employer Responsibility

Even with the improvements in ANSI/ISEA 107-2004, it is still a standard not required by law. In Europe, the standard EN 471 for high-visibility safety apparel is similar to the US ANSI (some even believe ANSI was copied from it), but it is mandatory and has been since 1994. "The US is definitely behind the eight-ball," says Burke about this issue. He sees liability as the driving force behind safety apparel, explaining that in the US ANSI is only a standard followed by and enforced by OSHA. This means "lots of times these enforcement issues are fought in the courts between lawyers because it's not law," says Burke. Who gets landed with the liability is dependant upon which lawyer makes a more convincing case.

Why should an employer be responsible for making sure employees have/wear the appropriate safety apparel? Burke explains employer liability using the example of highway construction workers. If drivers traveling at a rate of 50 miles an hour do not see the worker, he says the argument can be made that they really are not responsible for hitting that worker because the apparel was not appropriate for the environment or perhaps was worn incorrectly due to poor training. That's where employers leave themselves open to attack.

Trimble agrees that employers will want to pay close attention to safety apparel in order to avoid litigation. "OSHA's general construction rules (1926.28 and general industry rules (1910.132-139, subpart I) hold that 'the employer is responsible for requiring the wearer of appropriate personal protection equipment in all operations where there is an exposure to hazardous conditions...'" This could easily be applied to the ramp where companies will be held accountable for workers injured on the job without the appropriately rated safety apparel. He suggests that one very effective mitigation is the use of high-visibility work wear.

"If a worker is injured on the job, or even killed... you have the workplace cost of lost wages, benefits to the crash victims, workplace costs associated with cost of destruction ... employee injury, workers and their families, medical care, legal services, insurance, replacement vehicles and travel, etc.," says Kessinger from RPS. The price of a vest, when associated to all those costs, allows you to really weigh the pros and cons. "A $14 vest is pretty cost effective, especially when there's loss of life. You can't get that back."

Safety on the ramp is starting to find its way to the top of action plans for associations and with a number of organizations trying to track the number of GSE accidents and incidents, safety apparel is sure to come under scrutiny. Purchasing good quality, high-visibility safety apparel certified ANSI-compliant allows you to not only provide 24-hours of conspicuity, reduce litigation possibilities and provide peace of mind to your crew, but will save you money in the long haul.