ANSI/ISEA 107 and Related U.S. Regulations

The ANSI/ISEA 107-1999 standard was the first U.S. standard for the design and performance of high visibility safety apparel. In November 2008, 23 CFR part 634 was the first U. S. Federal regulation applied to worker high visibility apparel in Federal Aid highway environments, and required the use of performance Class 2 or 3 ANSI/ISEA 107 garments. The 23 CFR part 634 regulation was then incorporated into the 2009 edition of the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), to extend its application to all public access roadways. The MUTCD requires all workers, including construction, maintenance, utility, emergency and incident responders, and volunteers, operating on or near any public access roadway, to wear high-visibility safety apparel.

The 2015 revision of ANSI/ISEA 107 combines the previously separate 107 and 207 standards into a single document for administrative simplicity. The new version includes a “Type” structure that keeps off-road (“Type O”), roadway (“Type R”), and public safety (“Type P”) garments separate by application, and more closely aligns with the definitions and implementation of the U.S. Federal worker high visibility regulation residing in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Under the new standard, any Type R roadway garments are compliant for workers on or near a public access roadway, and Type P public safety garments add a compliance option for emergency and incident responders.