Australian/New Zealand Standard

AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 Australian/New Zealand Standard Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes Part 4: High-visibility materials for safety garments

AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 This Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard was prepared by Joint Technical Committee MS/49, Retroreflective Devices. It was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia on 6 June 1997 and on behalf of the Council of Standards New Zealand on 26 May 1997. It was published on 5 October 1997. The following interests are represented on Committee MS/49: ARRB Transport Research AUSTROADS Accident Compensation Corporation (New Zealand) Australasian Railway Association Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Australian Chamber of Manufactures Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia New Zealand Road Signs Manufacturers Federation Road Safety Manufacturers Association, New Zealand Society of Automotive Engineers, Australasia Transit New Zealand University of Melbourne University of New South Wales Victorian College of Optometry Review of Standards. To keep abreast of progress in industry, Joint Australian/ New Zealand Standards are subject to periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new editions as necessary. It is important therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edition, and any amendments thereto. Full details of all Joint Standards and related publications will be found in the Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand Catalogue of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazines The Australian Standard and Standards New Zealand, which subscribing members receive, and which give details of new publications, new editions and amendments, and of withdrawn Standards. Suggestions for improvements to Joint Standards, addressed to the head office of either Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand, are welcomed. Notification of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in a Joint Australian/New Zealand Standard should be made without delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken. This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 96028.

AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 Australian/New Zealand Standard Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes Part 4: High-visibility materials for safety garments Originated in New Zealand as NZS 5839:1986. Jointly revised and redesignated AS/NZS 1906.4:1997. PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY: STANDARDS AUSTRALIA 1 The Crescent, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND Level 10, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace, Wellington 6001 New Zealand ISBN 0 7337 1260 6

AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 2 PREFACE This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee MS/49 on Retroreflective Devices to supersede in part NZS 5839. It is one of a series of four Standards, the other three being as follows: AS 1906 Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes 1906.2 Part 2: Retroreflective devices (non-pavement application) 1906.3 Part 3: Raised pavement markers (retroreflective and non-retroreflective) AS/NZS 1906 Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes 1906.1 Part 1: Retroreflective materials This Standard covers only high-visibility materials to be used in the manufacture of safety garments, rather than the garments themselves. A separate Standard for high-visibility garments is in preparation. EN 471 Specification for high-visibility warning clothing was consulted in the preparation of this Standard. The term normative has been used in this Standard to define the application of the appendix to which it applies. A normative appendix is an integral part of a Standard. Copyright STANDARDS AUSTRALIA/ STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND Users of Standards are reminded that copyright subsists in all Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand publications and software. Except where the Copyright Act allows and except where provided for below no publications or software produced by Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand. Permission may be conditional on an appropriate royalty payment. Australian requests for permission and information on commercial software royalties should be directed to the head office of Standards Australia. New Zealand requests should be directed to Standards New Zealand. Up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard may be copied for use exclusively in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand. Inclusion of copyright material in computer software programs is also permitted without royalty payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs. Care should be taken to ensure that material used is from the current edition of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the Standard is amended or revised. The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identified. The use of material in print form or in computer software programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty. This policy may be varied by Standards Australia or Standards New Zealand at any time.

3 AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 CONTENTS Page FOREWORD... 4 SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL 1.1 SCOPE... 5 1.2 REFERENCEDDOCUMENTS... 5 1.3 DEFINITIONS... 6 1.4 CLASSIFICATIONOFMATERIALS... 7 1.5 ACCEPTANCE OF MATERIAL SUPPLIED FROM OVERSEAS......... 7 SECTION 2 HIGH DAYTIME VISIBILITY (CLASS F) MATERIALS 2.1 APPLICATIONOFSECTION... 8 2.2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF TEST REQUIREMENTS. 8 2.3 FLUORESCENTCOLOUR... 8 2.4 NON-FLUORESCENTCOLOUR... 8 2.5 DURABILITY... 10 SECTION 3 RETROREFLECTIVE AND COMBINED PERFORMANCE MATERIALS 3.1 APPLICATIONOFSECTION... 12 3.2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF TEST REQUIREMENTS. 12 3.3 MINIMUM PHOTOMETRIC PERFORMANCE FOR CLASS R ANDRFMATERIAL... 12 3.4 COLOUR... 14 3.5 DURABILITYTESTS... 14 3.6 RESISTANCETOFLEXING... 15 3.7 RESISTANCETOCOLDCRACKING... 15 3.8 RAINFALLPERFORMANCE... 15 SECTION 4 PACKAGING, STORAGE, CARE LABELLING AND MARKING 4.1 PACKAGING... 16 4.2 STORAGE... 16 4.3 CARELABELLING... 16 4.4 MARKING... 16 APPENDICES A DAYLIGHT COLOUR AND LUMINANCE FACTOR TEST............ 17 B COLOURFASTNESS TO LIGHT TEST FOR FLUORESCENT MATERIALS ANDFABRIC... 18 C ABRASION TEST FOR RETROREFLECTIVE MATERIAL............. 19 D RAISED TEMPERATURE TEST FOR RETROREFLECTIVE MATERIAL.. 20 E PHOTOMETRIC PERFORMANCE TEST UNDER SIMULATED RAINCONDITIONS... 22

AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 4 FOREWORD High daytime visibility for safety garments is normally achieved through the use of fluorescent materials, an important characteristic of which is their limited ability to resist relatively rapid fading when exposed to the ultraviolet (UV) component in daylight. This is a direct consequence of the way the fluorescent pigment functions, the conversion of UV radiation to light in the visible spectrum in a process which progressively consumes the fluorescent compounds in the pigment. Fluorescent materials in regular outdoor use will need to be replaced much more frequently than other materials or fabrics if this highvisibility characteristic is to be maintained. This Standard does not include a test for directly measuring the loss of fluorescence when a material is exposed to UV radiation, as such a test, although available, is difficult and expensive to perform and of doubtful reproducibility. The resistance of the materials to loss of fluorescence is therefore measured indirectly, by simply measuring colour fade using a daylight colourfastness test normally applicable to textiles. Evidence suggests that the end point specified for this test is indicative of the performance of a fluorescent material which will last for periods of at least 5 to 6 months under conditions of almost continuous outdoor wear and frequent washing. The tolerances on the colour of high daytime visibility materials specified in this Standard are based on EN 471 but have been extended to include colours at the upper end of the orange spectrum and the lower end of the yellow spectrum. Provision is made in the Standard for high-visibility non-fluorescent colours for use in those situations where for safety reasons in a particular industry, natural fibres must be used in safety garments. Fluorescent pigments will, in general, not be adequately retained in natural fibres. Users are warned however, that such colours will rarely be as effective visually by day as fluorescent colours, and their use should be restricted to those situations where synthetic fabrics carrying fluorescent pigments cannot be used. Retroreflected colour is not specified for retroreflective materials. In line with the philosophy on which EN 471 is based, the essential night-visibility requirement for highvisibility garment material is an absolute retroreflective performance regardless of colour. Although in practice, materials which reflect either white or yellow are more likely to meet the higher retroreflective performance specified, other colours are not precluded if they are capable of meeting that performance. Furthermore, the Standard does not preclude the use of additional colours, coloured symbols or words on a garment. These will not however, be regarded as contributing towards the retroreflective performance requirement. This Standard also considers the properties of retroreflective materials whose performance is modified as a result of orientation and are consequently described as orientation sensitive. This description is applied to any material whose photometric performance changes by more than 15 percent when rotated 90 degrees in the plane of the material from the position at which the initial measurement was made.

5 AS/NZS 1906.4:1997 STANDARDS AUSTRALIA/STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND Australian/New Zealand Standard Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes Part 4: High-visibility materials for safety garments SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL 1.1 SCOPE This Standard specifies the photometric, colorimetric and physical property requirements for high-visibility materials for outdoor daytime use, or retroreflective materials for use at night or in other dark conditions, or a combination of the two, to be used for the manufacture of or for incorporation into, industrial safety garments designed to be worn in situations where the wearer needs to be highly visible. Immersible water safety materials such as those used on personal flotation devices are not included. NOTE: This Standard does not include requirements for the integrity or performance of materials under extremes of temperature, atmospheric conditions, abrasive conditions or any other abnormal use of the material. 1.2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS The following documents are referred to in this Standard: AS/NZS 1906 Retroreflective materials and devices for road traffic control purposes 1906.1 Part 1: Retroreflective materials AS 1441 Methods of test for coated fabrics 1441.6 Part 6: Method for determination of resistance to flex cracking 1441.14 Part 14: Method for determination of resistance to cold cracking 1957 Care labelling of clothing, household textiles, furnishings, upholstered furniture, bedding, piece goods and yarns 2001 Methods of test for textiles 2001.2.25 Part 2.25: Determination of flat abrasion resistance of textile fabrics (Martindale abrasion method) 2001.4 Part 4: Colourfastness tests 2001.4.1 Part 4.1: Definitions and general requirements 2001.4.15 Part 4.15: Determination of colourfastness to washing 2001.4.17 Part 4.17: Determination of colourfastness to perspiration 2001.4.21 Part 4.21: Determination of colourfastness to light using an artificial light source (mercury vapour, tungsten filament, internally phosphor-coated lamp) 2001.5.4 Part 5.4: Determination of dimensional change in laundering of textile fabrics and garments Automatic machine method 4004 Lighting booths for visual assessment of colour and colour matching NZS 8721 Care labelling of clothing, household textiles, furnishings, upholstered furniture, bedding, piece goods and yarns COPYRIGHT

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