Safety Vests

G'day,

In Australia, while working in the rail corridor, the wearing of a British Safety Orange vest with reflective stripes is mandatory and a safety breach if you do not adhere to the requirement.

My question, is it the same for railway workers, regardless of job, beit driver, guard, fettler or signaller to wear such vests? I have noticed in the various pages of Trains magazine that some rail workers do, while others do not.

Thanks for the time...

Russell

Fettler? Unfortunately, some railroads are making this piece of outerwear mandatory, for "safetys sake". On the road where I work now, there has been no personal injury going on three years. The vest just became mandatory a few months back. Hard to justify the safety aspect of a vest, on a road without injuries. I feel much safer walking on the catwalks of the locomotives, knowing I won't be run over by a motor vehicle, thanks to my reflective costume........ Just some safety morons lame attempt, to justify his job, I suspect.

i believe all remote control operators are required to wear the vest as part of their harness. they are not popular. many railroads require students & new-hires to wear one for a specific length of time--say six months, or a year. the vests i've experienced were all ill-fitting & cumbersome, not to mention unfashionable...

Well, here on the Cartoon Network(CN) everyone and anyone that works outside has to have a damn safety vest when out in the field. They catch on a lot of stuff and I think they're more unsafe than safe. I always seem to snag the damned thing on locomotive hood door hinges. Not to mention that having a big Scotchlite X on your back in questionable neighborhoods is always fun at night.

And of course, if you get caught not wearing it, you'll most likely be called up for and investigation and get some time off!

One of the local shortlines in my area started to hand out brightley colored T-Shirts in Bright Blaze Orange, Floresent yellow, lime green and Hot Pink. The only reflective thing they have is a radio belt, or a reflictive harence type belt with a sash.

so how do you comply when its not T-shirt weather ????

Monkey see, monkey do.........
One railroad trots em out, the others follow suit.

On CPR, vests have been required for several years now. Most are orange. The new hires, or junior varsity, as we call them, wear line green, for the first year.

DutchRailnut wrote:so how do you comply when its not T-shirt weather ????

They revert over to sweat shirts in eather Orange or Yellow.

Nothing says SAFETY like wearing, in 98* weather with 100%humidity, a superfluous layer of clothing that snags on pin lifters, switch stands, locomotive doors, hinges, motor vehicle doors, ladders etc.

I especially like how it blocks my back pocket so I cant put my switch list in there without lifting the vest; same with how it blocks my belt loop so I cant readily get to my keys

Guy With Office: How can we improve safety?

Guy Who Wants Office But Only Has Truck: Lets make all the people that
do the work wear these things that are hot and snag on everything
just like the trash dudes and highway people wear.

Guy With Office: Great suggestion! You have Assistant Selective
Supervisor Level 4 written all over you!

Haha very well stated, shortlinerailroader!

I'm so used to the vests that they don't bother me anymore. But now theres some ruling that vests are not good enough, soon we will have to wear special vests with sleeves, but we can still wear the vests if we wear some orange shorts over our pants.

I am not making this stuff up.

I'm sure before I get to retire I will have to wear orange from head to toe and possible even have to wear orange face paint!

Peace_Maker wrote:I'm sure before I get to retire I will have to wear orange from head to toe and possible even have to wear orange face paint!

SSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Don't give 'em no ideas. Geez!!!!

Yeah, it's bad enough wearing them while operating the RCL's, I hope we don't end up having to wear them all the time.

We have to wear either a belt ( my radio belt is perfect) arm bands ( PITA) or reflective gloves.RCL ops have to wear a vest,and on the pit mechanical guys wear orange vests or belts.

I dont know about the vests. I think a belt is fine and the gloves, Oh plus that funny little orange light emitting device what sthat called a lantern? LOL.I swear if it gets any worse we will have to be dipped in flourecent paint.