Compliance guide · Hi-vis
Search for 'hi-vis law UK' and you won't find an act that says 'wear yellow'. What exists is stronger: a duty to assess risks and provide the PPE the assessment demands — and around moving vehicles, that assessment reaches hi-vis so reliably that the duty and the garment have fused in practice.
The logic
The chain runs: the PPE at Work Regulations require employers to assess risks and provide suitable PPE free where risks can't be controlled otherwise → being struck by a moving vehicle is a classic residual risk → high-visibility clothing (EN ISO 20471) is the recognised control → so wherever people and vehicles share space, the assessment lands on hi-vis and it becomes, in effect, mandatory. That's why the same conclusion appears on construction sites, in warehouse traffic routes, at loading bays, on airport aprons and roadside verges — not because a statute names each place, but because the assessment does the same maths everywhere.
Some environments harden it further: rail has its own binding standard (orange, RIS-3279-TOM), road and highways work follows sector codes that specify class by road speed (the class logic), and sites simply write hi-vis into their entry rules — at which point refusing it is a site-access issue, not a debate. The employer picks the class through the assessment; the employee's duty is to wear what's provided.
In practice
| Environment | Practical position |
|---|---|
| Construction sites | Effectively universal via site rules — Class 2 minimum is the norm |
| Roads & highways | Sector codes specify class by speed — Class 3 on high-speed roads |
| Rail infrastructure | Rail-spec orange, mandatory, its own standard |
| Warehouses & yards | Required on traffic routes per the site's traffic plan |
| Delivery & kerbside work | Employer policy driven by the assessment — increasingly standard |
Questions
Not by name — the legal duty comes from the PPE at Work Regulations: assess risks, provide suitable PPE free of charge where risks remain. Around moving vehicles that assessment reliably concludes hi-vis, and site rules and sector codes (roads, rail) then make it explicit and enforceable in practice.
Yes — where the risk assessment requires it, wearing provided PPE is part of the employee's own legal duty, and sites can make it a condition of entry. The employer's side of the bargain is providing suitable, properly fitting hi-vis at no cost.
The employer's risk assessment, steered by sector codes: higher vehicle speeds, poorer light and less separation push toward Class 3; controlled, low-speed environments sit at Class 2. Rail is separate — orange to the rail standard, regardless of class arguments.
Whatever the risk assessment says the team needs, it's stocked, certified and priced for volume.