Two spring to mind that may be of use.
At Hatfield, early 90's IIRC a engineer was killed during ground testing of a 146. A search of google found this previous posting on prune
My friend, an ex hatfield fitter on the 146 told me of an incident that happened back in 1989 to 1990.
it was mid morning when engine tests were being done on the 146 and a test engineer was nearby, the chap was about 30 years of age at the time and he was wearing a flourecent anorake, the engines started to rise in power and the chaps anorake ballooned with air and lifted him off the ground and witnesses said that he seemed to hover in the air for a split second and then suddenly flew through the air and straight through the engine.
The workers in the factory heard an almighty bang (knowing that the engines were being tested) and went to investigate because my friend tells me that it was very rare to have problems on this engine type.
I do believe that guards were ment to be fitted to the engines before testing, but on this occasion there was none.
I recall the event and I think one of the 'results' of the investigation is the requirement now that overalls must be fastened i.e. coats buttoned, so if your SOP's on an airfield include this specific instruction, this is probably the root of the requirement. In this instance I believe that the coat in question was a scientist type of lab coat rather than a hi-viz. There must be a CAA investigation somewhere in SRG for that.
An event where hi-viz
may have prevented a death occurred in Southampton docks in the late sixties. One evening a young bloke 'hitched' a ride on the battery box of an articulated truck. It was apparently common practise but strictly forbidden for obvious reasons. As the vehicle was moving he fell off and went under the trailer being killed instantly. At the time hi-viz was years away, but I do wonder if he'd been wearing one if someone would have seen him sitting between truck and trailer, and stopped it before the accident. At this distance of time it's not known if the truck driver knew of his 'hitcher', if not, perhaps hi-viz would have helped the driver see him and broken the chain of events.
For that reason and accident I never have any issues regarding wearing hi-viz.
The guy who fell off was my brother ...