In our post, What is ANSI 107, we covered the changes of ANSI 107-2010 and ANSI 207-2011. These two documents were combined to create a single, updated document, also known as ANSI 107-2015.
The new update detailed the changes and the importance of high visibility apparel. Within those changes, came a simple classification system for high visibility workwear.
These classifications looked to simplify the way to identify high visibility apparel needs, based on job. Those classifications are listed as Type P, Type R, and Type O.
Digging down into these new types, we have O, which stands for off-road and non-roadway use.
R refers to roadway and temporary traffic control zones.
P refers to the public safety sector, which includes emergency and law enforcement personnel.
According to Red Kap, adding the garment types O, R, and P creates a broader range of protection from high-visibility safety apparel, allowing managers and safety professionals to address a broader range of potential hazards. In this post, we will cover: What is Type O, what workers should be in a Type O garment, the Type O definition, the safety concerns with choosing enhanced over Type O, and a Type O garment example. So let’s get started and understand this first of three classifications.
What is ANSI 107 Type O?
ANSI 107-2015 Type O was intended for use in environments where there are struck-by hazards from moving vehicles, equipment, & machinery not operating on public access rights of way or temporary traffic control zones.
With the introduction of “Type O” to ANSI 107-2015, it resulted in 12+ million new additional employees who should now be in high visibility safety apparel (HVSA).
Previous to Type O, transportation utilities, and roadway construction were the prime industries for HVSA. However, type O introduced high visibility apparel to workers who were typically required to wear enhanced visibility garments.
So the question needs to be asked, who are these workers?
ANSI 107 Type O workers
With the introduction of Type O to ANSI 107-2015, it brought in new industries that should be in some form of HVSA, helping to avoid any potential penalties by OSHA for non-compliance. These industries and workers include the following:
Construction: Residential construction, non-residential construction, heavy civil engineering utility, heavy civil engineering land, other heavy civil engineering, specialty building foundation, specialty building equipment, specialty building finish, and specialty other.
Transportation: Trucking gen. Freight, trucking specialized freight, support water, support freight, and support other.
Utilities: Water/sewage
Administrative Support Services: Facilities support, investigation/security, and buildings/dwelling.
Police/Fire/Corrections: Correctional institutions.
Metal Manufacturing: Primary metal manufacturing, fabricated metal manufacturing, machinery manufacturing, and transportation equipment manufacturing.
Wood/Paper/Chemical Manufacturing: Wood manufacturing, paper manufacturing, petroleum and coal manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, plastics and rubber manufacturing, and non-metallic mineral manufacturing.
Food/Beverage Manufacturing: Food manufacturing and beverage/tobacco manufacturing.
Couriers/Warehousing: Couriers/Messengers and warehousing/storage.
The ANSI 107 Type O definition standards
Type O garments fall into Class 1 of ANSI 107 and are defined as having 217 sq. inches of background fabric with 155 sq. inches of reflective tape (1.0” wide) + design. By comparison, type O needs the least amount of square inches of background fabric, as well as reflective tape.
ANSI 107 Type O and your safety requirements
Looking at the oil and gas industry, these workers are usually found in enhanced visibility shirts. If you aren’t familiar with enhanced visibility, you can read more about it in this article.
Typically, an enhanced visibility top will either have a basic grey or navy blue for its color and a one inch wide reflective striping with hi-viz trim.
So what is the issue if these guys are just out and about on a well pad?
While these types of garments can add some extra visibility to the worker, it doesn’t highlight the worker when working against a backdrop that matches his shirt color.
This could be any piece of equipment that is typically found at a drill site and leaves little visibility to the other worker backing up in a water truck or other machinery that is moving around the work area.
This exact scenario played out when a young man was struck and killed by a truck backing up. So how important is your safety apparel when it comes to the safety of your team?
ANSI 107 Type O apparel examples
When first looking at a Type O workshirt, you can’t help but notice it appears to be a hybrid between high visibility and enhanced visibility. This particular shirt is an upcoming Red Kap High-Visibility Ripstop Work shirt and features a color block design.
For those working in off-road environments, this shirt is that added visibility that you don’t find with enhanced visibility garments and becomes the perfect choice when your safety is your core value.
In conclusion, the ANSI 107 Type O garments are an added level of safety that off-road workers need. For the companies that make safety their number one priority in company values, this will be a welcomed change. As a result, we should see less struck-by incidents, when it comes to visibility issues.
Topics: Visibility