ANSI/ISEA 207-2011: American National Standard for High Visibility Public Safety Vests

The American National Standard for High-Visibility Public Safety Vests (ANSI/ISEA 207-2011) is the authoritative document for the design, performance specifications, and use of high-visibility vests specifically worn by public safety employees including law enforcement, firefighters and incident command personnel. It establishes design, performance specifications, and use criteria for highly visible vests that are used by public safety industries.

The standard includes basic requirements such as vest dimensions, color and materials performance, but also incorporates criteria for special features for users in fire, emergency medical and law enforcement services. The vest design criteria reflect the specific needs of public safety workers such as the need to access belt mounted equipment (gun, CPR barrier) and the ability for vests to tear away from the body.

The revised standard represents an update to the initial 2006 publication developed by ISEA’s High Visibility Products Group and was approved by key stakeholders representing municipal fire and police departments, testing laboratories, product suppliers and government agencies. Though the update does not change the well-established requirements for compliant vests with respect to materials used in their configuration, it does provide direction with respect to recognition of the wearer in terms of logos, lettering or other identification means.