EN 471
Standard EN 471 is applied to clothing designed to visually emphasise the user's presence to make him/her more conspicuous in dangerous situations. Both in daytime and at night (think of illumination by vehicle headlights), this clothing should make the wearer stand out. This standard therefore defines the requirements for high-visibility clothing and is therefore the most common standard. EN 471 describes conspicuous fluorescent clothing with approved reflectivity. The standard itself calls this high-visibility warning clothing for professional use.
The classification is given in two numbers for each product. The overall class of the garment is indicated by the top number. This depends on the surface area of the fluorescent and reflective material. The higher the number, the more fluorescent material is present on the clothing and the better the visibility of the clothing is. This is measured per square metre. All products are classified from 1 to 3. Class three offers the highest safety. If a single product is not class 3 certified by itself, it is still possible to achieve this classification by properly combining products.
The degree of reflectivity of the reflective material is indicated by the bottom number. Again, there are three classes, with three being the highest safety standard. However, class two is the most commonly required and most workwear therefore falls/satisfies this.
Workwear can therefore also obtain a combined certification. This involves a combination of an amount of reflective material and a combination of garments. Sometimes this allows the workwear, just in combination, to be classified in a higher class.
For each class, there are rules that state whether or not you can work. For example, high-visibility clothing from class 1 can be used in situations with accident risk and low collision risk. It is also suitable for extra visibility within a company and for traffic controllers working mainly in (partial) daylight. It is not suitable for work along public roads. And so Class 2 workwear provides good visibility during work such as courier services, road construction and in twilight conditions. It is therefore suitable for road work along public roads at a maximum speed of up to 50 km/h. Finally, Class 3 products may be used on roads with higher permitted speeds (at least up to 90 km/h). This classification is mandatory when working in the dark and greatly reduces the risk of accidents.
The classification is given in two numbers for each product. The overall class of the garment is indicated by the top number. This depends on the surface area of the fluorescent and reflective material. The higher the number, the more fluorescent material is present on the clothing and the better the visibility of the clothing is. This is measured per square metre. All products are classified from 1 to 3. Class three offers the highest safety. If a single product is not class 3 certified by itself, it is still possible to achieve this classification by properly combining products.
The degree of reflectivity of the reflective material is indicated by the bottom number. Again, there are three classes, with three being the highest safety standard. However, class two is the most commonly required and most workwear therefore falls/satisfies this.
Workwear can therefore also obtain a combined certification. This involves a combination of an amount of reflective material and a combination of garments. Sometimes this allows the workwear, just in combination, to be classified in a higher class.
For each class, there are rules that state whether or not you can work. For example, high-visibility clothing from class 1 can be used in situations with accident risk and low collision risk. It is also suitable for extra visibility within a company and for traffic controllers working mainly in (partial) daylight. It is not suitable for work along public roads. And so Class 2 workwear provides good visibility during work such as courier services, road construction and in twilight conditions. It is therefore suitable for road work along public roads at a maximum speed of up to 50 km/h. Finally, Class 3 products may be used on roads with higher permitted speeds (at least up to 90 km/h). This classification is mandatory when working in the dark and greatly reduces the risk of accidents.