WorldWide Drilling Resource

47 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® SEPTEMBER 2015 Safety Spotlight: Visibility on the Road by Scott Cosby The topic of this month’s article is visibility on the road, because sometimes drilling work takes place on or very near the road, highway, etc. This is especially true for the agency I work for. The drill operator and crew must be seen by motorists! According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most common event associated with fatal occupational injuries incurred at a road construction site was a worker struck by a vehicle or mobile equipment. Along with the required hard hat working around the rig, high-visibility apparel is necessary when drilling on or along a road. High-visibility apparel can be defined as clothing designed to make the wearer more visible and containing design properties making the wearer discernible against their work environment. They are considered personal pro- tective equipment (PPE) in the work environment. Several agencies in the U.S. have specific standards and guidance with regards to the wearing of high-visibility clothing in this type of work environment, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These agencies most commonly reference an industry consensus standard issued by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). This is known as the ANSI/ISEA 107 Standard or “American National Standard for High Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear.” High-visibility apparel has two design criteria: background fabric and retroreflective tape. The colors for vests up to a full bodysuit are composed primarily of a fluorescent yellow and/or green, orange-red, and red. The retroreflective tape is added to areas (such as the arms, torso, and waist) to identify the wearer as a person, as opposed to a traffic control device such as a drum or sign. The fluorescent fabric is used to make the wearer more visible in daylight hours, particularly in twilight conditions. The retrore- flective tape makes the wearer more visible at night and during low light conditions. These high-visibility apparel types are further broken down into four classes (e.g. Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, and Class E) within the ANSI/ISEA 107 Standard, and mostly based on the roadwork environment and time of day. Consult search engines for more information on this topic. The ANSI/ISEA 107 Standard and OSHA are good references to examine on this topic, as well. Provide in-house training on this subject to all drill operators and crews to keep everyone safe. Scott Scott Cosby may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com OSHA Class 1 apparel example. ! " # !