Hi-vis vests with logo

Class 1, 2 or 3: where to find it, what you need

The class under EN ISO 20471 states how much high-visibility area a garment shows: at least 0.14 m² of fluorescent fabric for class 1, 0.50 m² for class 2 and 0.80 m² for class 3, plus a minimum area of reflective strips. It appears as a number next to the hi-vis pictogram on the label and, for our items, usually in the description too – often together with the number of tested washes, 25 for many simple vests.

Which class you need depends on the speed and density of the traffic, the distance from the carriageway and the light. As a rule of thumb, at least class 2 applies next to moving traffic, and class 3 for fast traffic, at night or in poor visibility. What is binding is what your business specifies in its risk assessment or what the client requires.

Often overlooked: on some models the smallest sizes reach one class lower. And two-tone vests with dark areas sometimes only reach class 1, while the same model in all yellow or all orange reaches class 2.

Vest or jacket?

A sleeveless vest reaches class 2 at most. Class 3 also requires sleeves or long trouser legs with reflective strips: a short-sleeved vest, a hi-vis jacket or a combination with hi-vis trousers that the manufacturer has certified together as class 3.

On the other hand, a vest fits over a T-shirt in summer and over a jacket in winter – ideal for anyone who is only in traffic areas some of the time, for visitors and subcontractors. If you work outdoors every day in all weathers, a hi-vis jacket is the better choice; many are waterproof, more than 30 of them tested to EN 343.

Site vest or simple safety vest

For everyday work on the building site and in the works depot, vests with a zip and pockets for ID, phone, pens and radio prove their worth, as do tool vests with removable nail pockets, airy mesh vests for summer and softshell or padded vests for cold days. Some come in a women’s cut.

Simple vests with hook-and-loop fastening are light, adjustable and quick to slip on – for visitors, helpers at an event or as a spare in the vehicle. In Switzerland a hi-vis vest is not compulsory in the car, but it is in several neighbouring countries.

Our more than 50 hi-vis vests to EN ISO 20471 – from Blåkläder, ProJob, Korntex, Result, Yoko, Regatta and other brands – almost all come in yellow, many in orange and some in fluorescent red: the three colours the standard allows. Blue, green or pink vests are not hi-vis clothing; some of them are tested to EN 17353, a standard for visibility in everyday private life, for example on the way to school.

Logo on the vest: what goes where

On vests with two horizontal strips, the chest logo sits above the upper strip, to the left or right of the fastening. If strips also run over the shoulders, there is only room for a small logo there. On the back, there is most space above the upper horizontal strip – enough for the company name and phone number. Some vests have a large logo area or are labelled as printable. But a design covers fluorescent fabric: if a vest only just reaches its class, it is better to keep the logo small.

We print thin vests in DTF: CHF 5.50 up to 10 cm on the chest, CHF 9.50 up to 30 cm on the back, from 10 pieces with a quantity discount down to CHF 3.65. Softshell and padded vests can often be embroidered too: a 9 × 4 cm logo costs CHF 9.90 for 1 piece, CHF 9.40 from 10 and CHF 7.90 from 100 pieces, and digitising is free. The reflective strips always stay free.

From a single vest to the whole works depot

You order from a single piece and see the logo in the live preview of the configurator; you collect the sizes with our size list. You receive the proof within 72 hours, and production starts after your approval. With logo we deliver 7–10 working days after approval, without logo in 2–4 working days, by Swiss Post throughout Switzerland. Shipping costs CHF 9.90 and is free from CHF 250.

For the whole business, we prepare a quote within 24 hours as a link. For embroidery, the same logo at the same size is counted across all items, and for new employees you reorder with one click.