PNA, Oct. 9

Notice: New federal regulation requires media to wear safety vests on highways

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued new requirements for workers on federal-aid highways that appear to require the media to wear high visibility safety vests when covering incidents on public highways. The regulations, which take effect on Nov. 24, 2008, seek to increase visibility and ultimately the safety of roadside workers by requiring the use of high visibility apparel.

Under the regulations, "All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel." The term "workers" includes "responders to incidents," and in the explanatory notes to the regulation (page 4, under “Definition of Workers”) the FHWA takes the position that this includes media representatives when covering events on highways. The regulations can be found at 23 C.F.R. §634.

Most public roads in Pennsylvania are constructed and maintained using federal funding and thus, are covered by the FHWA regulations. As a result, Pennsylvania newspaper personnel who are responding to accidents or incidents on public roads should wear compliant, high visibility apparel beginning in November. The regulations require the use of ANSI/ISEA 107 Class 2 or 3 high visibility apparel (high visibility vests). Workers are being urged to purchase green vests (as opposed to orange or yellow ones), so that motorists can more easily differentiate them from other items on the roads (cones, signs, etc.).

ISEA (The International Safety Equipment Association) maintains a list of manufacturers that produce high visibility apparel compliant with the new federal regulations. To find a manufacturer, please visit www.safetyequipment.org or contact the PNA Legal Hotline at (717) 703-3080. The Web site www.mysafetygear.com also has an ANSI-approved, Class 2 vests -- US2LM17 -- with a price of $12.95 each. This price goes down as the quantity goes up, and depending upon interest, the PNA would be willing to purchase in bulk for our members. They also will silkscreen PRESS across the back for $2.99 each.

The PNA is in the process of checking and verifying other prices for these vests, and we will update this information on our Web site and in Headlines & Deadlines next week. In the meantime, if you are interested in participating in a group purchase, please contact Abigail Ketchum, Membership Manager, at abigailk@pa-news.org. Please indicate the number that you would be interested in purchasing. No purchases will be made without further confirmation. Stay tuned!

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