Utility Safeguard Blog

Don’t freeze all winter in your safety vest—instead get a safety jacket!  They combine the cold weather protection of a winter jacket with the high-visibility of a safety vest!  We offer a great selection for you to choose from, so you can find the perfect jacket for your job.  To help you decide, here are a few of our best selling safety jackets that are available:

Two Tone Bomber Jacket:  This jacket has a removable inner layer, which makes it the perfect coat for any temperature.  For fall and spring, remove the poly fleece lining and get light protection.  When winter hits put the fleece back in and stay warm no matter how hard the snow flies.

Class 3 Reversible Cold Weather Jacket:  Get two looks in one with this reversible winter jacket.  One side is the high-visibility lime with reflective stripes you need for work, while the other side is a classic black, perfect for when you are not on the job.

Polar Fleece Jacket with Hood:  The soft, comfortable fleece lining of this lime polyester jacket will protect you from winter’s chill.  It also has two convenient outer pockets to store everything you need to keep on hand while working.

No matter what safety jacket you choose, you can be sure that you will get it for a great low price when you order from Utility Safeguard.  Browse our selection of over 50 options, and then order your favorite jacket before the snow starts to fly!

Different types of safety vests are used for different industries, but most jobs require ANSI safety vests. ANSI safety vests are certified by the American National Standards Institute. They meet certain requirements for high visibility safety clothing standards. Here’s a quick guide to the different classes of ANSI safety vests.

ANSI Class 2 safety vests are sleeveless safety vests with 775 square inches of background material and 201 square inches of retro-reflective material (1.375 inch reflective stripes). Required for workers on sites around traffic going 25 mph or higher and workers near heavy machinery, ANSI class 2 safety vests come in many styles and colors.

ANSI Class 3 safety vests are for workers who need greater visibility than what Class 2 vests offer. ANSI Class 3 safety vests are required for workers near traffic that exceeds 50 mph. These vests have 1240 square inches of background material and 310 square inches of retro-reflective material (2 inch reflective stripes). All ANSI Class 3 safety vests have sleeves.

ANSI 207-2006 safety vests are public service safety vests required for all public service officials, including law enforcement, emergency responders, fire officials and DOT personnel. These safety vests can be color-coded and customized for individual industries. Most ANSI 207-2006 safety vests are breakaway vests.

Bookmark the Utility Safeguard blog for more helpful posts on safety vests, hard hats, work gloves, and other types of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Have you already finished with all of your holiday shopping? If not, here are some cool holiday gift ideas.

Stylish bomber jackets make great holiday gifts for people who require high visibility protection on the job. ANSI certified safety jackets are available in assorted styles, like the OccuNomix Two Tone Bomber Jacket, the Port Authority Safety Reflective Heavyweight Parka, and the ANSI Class 3 Reversible Cold Weather Jacket by OccuNomix. These safety jackets all provide warmth and ANSI certified hi viz protection.

Tool kits and assorted hand tools are also good ideas. Do your loved ones already have all the tools they need? Get tool bags to help them stay organized! Various styles and sizes are available from top brand names, like CLC, Ergodyne, and Youngstown. Flashlights are ideal to buy for the handy-men and handy-women in your life, too. LED flashlights, camping lanterns, rechargeable flashlights, and mini flashlights are all best-sellers in the lighting industry. Streamlight and Coast are two of the biggest brand names, and they often sell accessories and upgrade kits for their most popular models of flashlights. Pair flashlights with the appropriate size batteries for even better gifts!

Thinking about giving gloves as holiday gifts? Good idea! Gloves are thoughtful gifts that can either be stylish or serve as hand protection for your loved ones’ jobs or hobbies. There are many different styles of gloves to choose from for both men and women. Gardening gloves, performance gloves, fleece-lined gloves, and leather work gloves are just some popular types.

If you want to avoid long store lines and fighting for parking spots at busy malls, finish your holiday shopping online this year! Many websites offer secure online checkouts, and they may even have special holiday coupon codes or shipping deals for you to save money.

Happy shopping, and happy holidays!

Are you wearing a safety vest?

This blog will discuss the use of safety vests and how they protect not only workers, but bike riders, joggers, scooter riders and many others from accidents caused by low visibility.

The key purpose of wearing a safety vest is to avoid the often deadly consequences of low visibility. According to ANSI standards, anyone working along a federally funded highway should be wearing a hi-viz lime or orange vest that meets at least Class 2 standards. ANSI Class 2 safety vests are designed for wearers exposed to traffic that exceeds 25 miles per hour. These vests can also provide the visibility necessary during inclement weather. There are Class 1 safety vests, but most people require protection higher than that of a Class 1 safety vest. A class I vest is for a parking attendant, warehouse personnel, someone who retrieves shopping carts from parking lots or anyone exposed to vehicles moving less than 25 miles per hour. A class I safety vest does not provide sufficient visibility for the majority of workers who are required by ANSI to wear a hi-viz vest.

Class 3 safety vests provide the highest level of high visibility. These vests have short sleeves and are designed for workers who face serious hazards or whose task load requires a shift of attention away from their work. Class 3 vests are vital for workers who deal with traffic that exceeds speeds of 50 miles per hour, and who work in all manner of weather. People who wear ANSI class III vests include utility repair crews, emergency service workers and more.

Another issue often unaddressed is that of personal safety outside the workplace. The economy and high gas prices have caused the percentage of those who commute by scooter to rise exponentially. Often, those who ride scooters do not take their own safety seriously. Scooter deaths and injuries have risen dramatically in the past decade and are often caused by riders being struck by other vehicles. Many of these accidents may have been prevented if the rider had been wearing a safety vest.

Motorcycle riders, bike riders and joggers pose the same issue with safety and low visibility. Are you taking your own safety seriously by wearing a safety vest?

There are many uses for safety vests, both on and off the work site. Safety vests are vital pieces of protective equipment and often cost only a few dollars! Take safety and visibility seriously!