Visibility is the whole job
For most trades hi-vis is one item among many. For highways and traffic management crews it's the thing standing between a worker and a vehicle doing seventy. That raises the bar on specification, on garment condition, and on making sure every person on site is kitted to the same level. What that level is comes from your own risk assessment and the requirements of the road you're working on, not from a generic assumption.
Seen from distance
Fluorescent background fabric for daylight, retroreflective tape for headlights at night. Both have to be there, and both have to still be working.
Seen in all weather
Rain, road spray and low winter light are exactly the conditions where visibility drops. Waterproof hi-vis that stays bright when it's soaked earns its place.
The same across the crew
One person in a lower-spec garment is the weak point. Kit the whole crew, including agency and subcontract staff, to the level your assessment sets.
Class 3 kit for live roads
Work on or near high-speed roads usually requires full class 3 hi-vis to EN ISO 20471, meaning a long-sleeve jacket with trousers, or a full hi-vis suit. Combining a hi-vis jacket with hi-vis trousers is what usually takes an outfit to the highest class. Many clients also specify orange, so check your contract before you order. Our hi-vis regulations guide covers the classes in more detail.
The highways and traffic management kit list
This is what road maintenance, surfacing and traffic management operations typically order. Set the hi-vis class from your risk assessment and the road you're working on.
- Hi-vis jackets: the core garment. Waterproof, breathable and padded class 3 jackets, often specified to the highest class for carriageway work. See hi-vis workwear.
- Hi-vis trousers: trousers and over-trousers. Paired with a hi-vis jacket, they're what most on-carriageway tasks need.
- Waterproof hi-vis over-layers: rain gear that's hi-vis itself, so nobody covers up their visibility to stay dry. Waterproof ratings explained.
- Hi-vis softshells, fleeces and bodywarmers: warm working layers in hi-vis fabric for cold shifts and night work.
- Hi-vis polos and T-shirts: the warm-weather layer, so crews stay visible when it's too hot for a jacket.
- Safety footwear: for rough verges, kerbs and hot surfacing work.
- Gloves: for handling cones, barriers, signs and tools through a shift. Glove ratings explained.
- Helmets and eye protection: specified to suit the task and your own assessment.
- Base layers: for night and winter shifts on exposed roads. Worn under the hi-vis, never instead of it.
- Branded caps and beanies: the small items crews reach for first, carrying your name without affecting the hi-vis garments.
Keeping hi-vis performing on the road
A hi-vis garment is only doing its job while the fluorescent fabric is still bright and the retroreflective tape is still intact. Road work is hard on both. Building replacement into your ordering, rather than waiting for garments to look obviously worn, keeps the crew at the standard your assessment sets.
Fading and grime
Fluorescent fabric loses brightness with sun exposure and ingrained road dirt. A washed-out garment no longer performs like a new one, even if it looks acceptable. See how hi-vis actually works.
Damaged tape
Cracked, lifting or worn retroreflective tape is a failure point at night. Our guide to replacing workwear covers what to check for.
Tell us the hi-vis class your risk assessment and works require and we'll match products to it exactly. That way a replacement jacket ordered for one operative is the same specification as the rest of the crew's.
Branding a crew across depots and contracts
Highways work runs across multiple depots, framework contracts and subcontractors. Consistent branded kit keeps a crew looking like one organisation wherever it turns up.
Logos that don't compromise the hi-vis
Logos go on the fluorescent background and stay clear of the reflective tape. Same logo, same placement, same colours on hi-vis and base layers, so every crew and every subcontractor matches. Check our logo placement guide for what goes where.
One account, many orderers
Depots and contract managers can order against a single trade account, so branding stays fixed and per-site reordering is simple. Our free Secure Buying Wardrobe makes that even easier for larger operations. See multi-site ordering explained.
