Orange high-vis = criminal ???

[djw1981]

it is a requirement to wear hi vis on any site with moving vehicles....building sites, bus stations, coach parks etc. Rail may insisit on the use of Orange (as specified in RGS) but orange can also be used by other industries, especially when suppliers sell it as cheaply as Yellow ones, and they are very visible (the reason that the railways use it afetr all)..

 

[P156KWJ]

the main reason for orange on the railway is because it isn't the aspect of a signal... whereas green/yellow whatever you want to call it is.

 

[djw1981]

Yes... and Orange is an unusual colour in that environment, whereas the yellow of hi vis blends into grass and folliage quite well.

However, on building / industrial sites, bright yellow is unusual.

The unusualness is what draws your eye to it, and registers it as out of place and a warning.

 

[Tom B]

The unusualness is what draws your eye to it, and registers it as out of place and a warning.

Precisely - which is why, if they are over-used, the effect diminishes.

Perhaps as well as insisting on where they SHOULD be used, there should be an insistence that they should not be used where not required.

 

[Mojo]

Precisely - which is why, if they are over-used, the effect diminishes.

Perhaps as well as insisting on where they SHOULD be used, there should be an insistence that they should not be used where not required.

For example station customer service staff?

 

[paul1609]

I believe that Orange Hi Vis is the most visible. On the roads/ roadways yellow was used because orange is not effective when used in areas lit by low pressure sodium (yellow) street lighting.
on the preserved railway front my railway (K&ESR) require staff to wear hi visibility jackets when working about the line and operating level crossings. This came about as a result of the railways safety case following a risk assesment. The risk assesment came about because hmri were concerned about the safety of volunteers operating/ working around level crossings with a road speed limit of 60 mph.

 

[EM2]

For example station customer service staff?

I can't comment about countrywide but none of the stations I frequent use yellow or orange for station staff.

 

[Mojo]

I can't comment about countrywide but none of the stations I frequent use yellow or orange for station staff.

Birmingham New St uses orange for dispatch (Network Rail) and FGW use yellow and navy blue for all of their dispatch.

 

[laseandre]

Er, why do they all get out of the car, if Dad's just changing a wheel?
BTW, in France, all drivers must carry a hi-viz in the car by law.

Been watching Top Gear, have we?

 

[Death]

I only have a small flourescent green hi-vis that was given to me when I completed my cycling proficiency at around age twelve (It's a wonder that it still fits me! hock but despite not meeting relevant visibility standards for A-roads and motorways, it's served me well enough over the years! 8)

As I don't really do the whole "Ned" thing, I generally choose to wear mine only in appropriate situations where such use is immediately justifiable, I.E:

• Cycling/Motorcycling,
• Walking down roads without pedestrian footpaths (Which I do often),
• Walking unlit roads, bridleways and paths at night,
• During breakdowns, when attempting repairs or seeking assistance,
• When in potentially dangerous areas (Scrap yards, vehicle yards etc.), and
• Whilst using dangerous level crossings (Such as Syndhurst FC)

Personally, I wouldn't wear it anywhere around the railway unless one of the above also applied (I.E: I'd just cycled to a station and had gone straight to the platform).

If I was authorised to be on the line for whatever reason, I would consider it as HV wear, but only if there were no standard HV's around, and I was also accompanied by someone in a proper HV for visibility purposes. Also, the colour (Light green) would instantly mark me out as non-railway personnel, and would serve as a warning to any oncoming drivers that I might need an earlier toot on the horn and more reaction time to clear the line. 8)

 

[Pumbaa]

As we're hoisting truss most of the time, and working at height, we have to wear high-vis quite often. We use yellow, one company round here use Orange. We scrounged all ours off building companies who had finshed with them. hehe

 

[Guinness]

I have a mate who wears a Hi Vis everywhere.

 

[robvulpes]

OP here. Here is the reply I got from Ministry of Justice, when I complained about the risk of legit employed/volunteer rail workers being confused for criminals on Community Service work. (I'm a volunteer on a heritage railway who has to wear high vis when trackside):-

Dear xxxx

I would normally respond to enquiries with a formal letter but on this occasion I only have your email address.

There have been a number of reports in the press about the concerns expressed, principally by the main unions, that there would be an increased risk to offenders wearing distinctive clothing bearing the Community Payback name and logo. During the process of consultation leading up to the launch of this initiative we asked for the evidence of incidents of assault or abuse of offenders on Community Payback sites. We found that there have been some incidents, including some very serious ones, but these had occurred over a number of years rather than just recently. In any week there are likely to be around 35000 offenders performing Community Payback across the country so you can see that the level of incidents is very low.

The introduction of distinctive clothing is designed to make it easier for members of the public to identify where offenders are performing Community Payback in their area. However, some probation areas have been using high visibility clothing with the Community Payback logo precisely for this purpose for some time now and they do not report experiencing an increased risk to offenders.

I do accept that there is the potential for anyone wearing an orange high visibility vest being mistaken for an offender performing Community Payback. This, of course, is not restricted to railway workers as postal workers, some supermarket staff and others also wear orange. As the vests need to satisfy Health and Safety requirements as well as making it easier for the public to identify where offenders are working we could only pick orange or yellow (having to provide two separate sets of high visibility would not be good use of public money). However, I hope that you are convinced that even such cases of mistaken identity do not place law abiding members of the public like you at greater risk.

I do appreciate that some of the press coverage might suggest that there is cause for concern but I hope that you are now convinced that this is not the case. If, however, you do have an experience that you believe has been caused by the wearing of an orange vest please let me know as it is important for us to be able to take account of the broadest range of information in keeping the impact of this practice under review.

If I can help further please do not hesitate to contact me.

[name]

Community Skills and Employment Unit
Directorate of Commissioning and Operational Policy,
National Offender Management Service
1st Floor, Abell House
John Islip Street
London, SW1P 4LH