Personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep your employees safe!

In order to protect employees who carry out high-risk jobs, employers must provide suitable personal protective equipment (PPE).

French law specifies that, “The personal protective equipment and workwear mentioned in Article R. 4321-4 are provided free of charge by the employer, who ensures that they are effective and hygienic by carrying out the necessary maintenance, repairs and replacements”.

High-visibility clothing falls under the PPE (personal protective equipment) clothing category. It is designed to improve conspicuity (the quality of attracting immediate visual attention) – in other words, the visibility of the person wearing it. Depending on the light conditions, workers may need to wear clothing that improves their visibility both during the day and at night when a light (such as vehicle headlights) is shone on them.

Using fluorescent and retroreflective materials, your workers and employees will stand out and be visible in hazardous situations or bad weather.

Microprism retroreflective strips are particularly important in rainy weather. Retroreflection means that a majority of the light received is redirected towards its original source. These strips are therefore the ideal solution to more effectively reflect light sources and therefore increase the safety of wearers. They are found on all Elis parkas!

Discover our high-visibility PPE

There are three classes of high-visibility PPE clothing, which differ based on the fluorescent and retroreflective material coverage.

• Class 1: lowest level of visibility
• Class 2: moderate level of visibility
• Class 3: highest level of visibility

Fluorescent materials (usually red, orange or yellow) are intended to provide protection by day, while retroreflective materials provide protection at night, allowing light to be returned towards its source. For example, if the light from a driver's headlights hits retroreflective materials, it will be automatically be bounced back towards the driver.

European standard ISO 20471 specifies that workwear intended to protect against the risks of poor visibility is class 2 – it protects against a moderate risk that could lead to serious but not necessarily fatal injury.

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These garments, including high-visibility trousers, are tested at regular intervals to check their effectiveness:

• the reflective strips are tested after 50 washes and their properties are verified using a special lamp and a control strip;
• the fabrics are tested extensively to evaluate their resistance to wear;
• the fastness of the fluorescent colours is checked after 50 washes using a spectrophotometer.