6Material selection and contrast#
All clothing and accessories worn by traffic controllers must be clean, in good order and not be faded. Where the Australian Standard referred to in this document has been updated, the latest edition will apply. Therefore, where compliance to an Australian Standard is required, traffic controllers are to wear clothing and materials that conform to the latest edition of that Australian Standard.
The relevant Australian Standards are:
| AS/NZS 1906.4 | Retro-reflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes Part 4: High-visibility materials for safety garments |
| AS/NZS 2210 | Safety, protective and occupational footwear |
| AS/NZS 4602.1 | High visibility safety garments Part 1: Garments for high risk applications |
- The Australian Standard AS/NZS 1906.4 provides the following classification for high visibility materials according to their day or night-time application:
| Class F | High daytime visibility fluorescent material |
| Class F (W) | High daytime visibility fluorescent material that has met both the requirements for Class F material and an optional wet weather test |
| Class R | Retro-reflective material for use on garments used in dark conditions |
| Class RF | Combined performance retro-reflective/fluorescent material meeting all of the requirements of Class R and the daytime colour of Class F |
| Class NF | High daytime visibility non-fluorescent material |
- Fluorescent material on traffic controller garments must conform to Class F of AS/NZS 1906.4.
- Suitable fluorescent colours for traffic controller garments are:
- − “Fluorescent yellow” - includes colours: “yellow”, “yellow-green”, and “lime-yellow”
- − “Fluorescent orange-red” – includes colours: “orange”, “orange-red”, and “red-orange” (but not “red” as it is less visible).
Retro-reflective Class R or RF tape is to conform to Australian Standard AS/NZS 1906.4. Retro-reflective colours are not specified in the standard, and are normally white; red-orange, yellow or silver/grey.
Class R and RF tape strips that are applied to garments must be a minimum of 50 mm wide (or two strips each being 25 mm wide), and may be narrower when applied to head wear and gloves.
Where Class R tape is applied to a garment, the colour of the Class R material must contrast the colour of the remainder of the garment. For example, orange-red tape on a fluorescent yellow vest, or white tape on a fluorescent yellow vest.