The History Of High Visibility Clothing

Since arriving in Britain over five decades ago, high visibility jackets and high visibility clothing has become synonymous with safety. High visibility clothing is so associated with industrial work environments that it would be quite unusual not to see the bright and synthetic coloured clothing in workplaces across the country. With the constant popularity of high vis clothing, we at HiVis.net thought we would share a little bit of history about this famous type of safety clothing…

Although it has been a familiar piece of work wear clothing for Britons since the 60s, high visibility clothing was actually invented by an American. Bob Switzer developed the high visibility colour through creating a fluorescent paint which he then tested on his wife’s wedding dress to make the very first piece of high visibility clothing (now there’s a fact for any pub quiz!). The paint was then developed for army clothing as a way of reducing friendly fire deaths.

After being tested back in 1964 by rail maintenance workers in Glasgow, acts such as the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act and 1992 Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations ensured that high visibility clothing was here to stay as it provided a great level of safety and protection for workers.

Over the years high visibility clothing became the uniform of choice for emergency service workers and road and rail maintenance workers, this gave the clothing a level of authority which is still upheld today.

Nowadays, the bright material can be seen on everyone from those working in hazardous environments to cyclists and runners exercising at night. While it may no longer be solely associated with work wear, the ever-growing popularity proves that high visibility clothing is the ideal choice for anyone who wants to stay safe and be seen.

Kit out your workforce or simply stay safe in any environment with the huge range of high visibility clothing including high visibility jackets available to buy from www.hivis.net