Hi Vis Jackets

[Over_Shoot]

Hi All

I have just been informed by my friendly groundcrew that I really should be wearing a Hi Vis jacket when walking to the aircraft to go flying.

Personnally, anyone who doesn't see/hear an aircraft coming towards them on the pan deserves to get run over. Apart from that I wondered if anyone here knows of any flight safety implications of wearing hi vis jackets near/in aircraft!?

Look forward to the responses

OS

[Gnd]

If you are a civi then the H&S (SHEFF) will vapourise you if you don't have one. In the Mil, you should be more worried about bullets (or bl-unties) so Hi-Viz vests aren't needed - unless - you have a head shed that has no balls!!

A well known Hampshire base had them, then a man took over and they don't any more.

Pooh-Bar to the PC brigade!!!

[ZH875]

I think you will find that most military units MANDATE that Hi-vis vests will be worn, certainly within the Uk and on dets that go west and at least as far east as Cyprus.

[Gnd]

I think you are wrong, they may for people working - but not going to ac

[cornish-stormrider]

G/crew, it was a hanging offence not to wear one. we used to get shiny new ones and age them by washing them in mud OM15 and avtur, very tactical

Never saw a grobag wearing gibbon in one, ever......Mind you it was such a long walk from the minibus to the HAS.

[Wensleydale]

At a Lincolnshire airbase, FSW Orders mandate the wearing of hi-vis vests on the dispearsal, and I understand that some groundcrew have fallen foul of the rule. The aircrew "should" wear them, but many refuse because they think that they are above all that (or too idle to put theirs on). The only chap to have been hit by a crew bus while walking on the dispearsal was infact wearing hi-vis and this is used as a reason not to wear it. However, I consider that it is like not wearing a seat belt in the days before compulsion - if you get hit and you were NOT wearing one then I expect that any compensation due would be markedly reduced. Indeed, I expect that the driver would sue you for the distress that your negligence had caused him!

Bottom line - it costs nothing to wear one, so why not - if you get hit you will get more money! Its like the thread on whether to wear gloves or not.

[Colonal Mustard]

I used to keep mine neatly folded in my boot pocket of my flying suit, always donned it on the the apron the minute i left the A/c and only took it off once away from the a/c and where no blind idiots operated i.e off the flightline, it costs nowt to wear one (only 10 seconds to don one) and one day you might be glad you were wearing it........

The fact you have asked the questions suggests doubt, so "if there`s doubt, then theres NO DOUBT"

[antipodean alligator]

I can remember the spams wearing them (flouro belts vice vests) at Ali during Resinate South....They used to call them sniper aiding devices....In fact the real cynics used to wear two crossed over to better mark the heart for the snipers!

All banter aside, we wear a flouro belt to-from the chariot down here nowadays.

[C130 Techie]

Hi Viz vests are mandatory for anyone going on to the pan at Brize.

Lets face it if the movers can hit something as big as a Tristar what hope have we mere human beings got

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!]

I have just been informed by my friendly groundcrew that I really should be wearing a Hi Vis jacket when walking to the aircraft to go flying.

...yes, but you have to wear the camo hi-viz version so that you don't stand out.

[TheWizard]

G/crew, it was a hanging offence not to wear one. we used to get shiny new ones and age them by washing them in mud OM15 and avtur, very tactical

Never saw a grobag wearing gibbon in one, ever......Mind you it was such a long walk from the minibus to the HAS.

Most groundcrew wear one to show who is good with a marker pen and who can do the 'funniest' cartoon/graffiti alongwith 'Spike', 'Baz' 'Newboy', 'Spanner Monkey' etc etc

How did we manage for all those years without them? (Hi viz vests that is!)
If the theory is right, there must have been dead bodies all over the pan for years....

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Aaaaaaaaaaarrghh, you may laugh, but over here in a certain commenwealth country known for excessive politeness, there are indeed cammo field jackets with high vis strips on for those that have to work in an area where hi-viz jackets are required! Hilarious to see!

[Roland Pulfrew]

The aircrew "should" wear them, but many refuse because they think that they are above all that (or too idle to put theirs on).

Or perhaps we think they look fg stupid on a camouflage uniform!! This is H&SAW madness. Heathrow, maybe - V busy out there. Brize with its one movement every half hour?!?

I saw a bunch of IOT cadets at the College a while ago marching to work. A flight of about 20 of them. They were all in DPM kit and carrying webbing with their high vis jackets draped over the back of each rucksack. Military bearing - I don't think so! The chaps on the back rank might be acceptable, but all of them!! Grow up, we are supposed to be the military not a bunch of road workers.

I'm with Gnd on this one. HSAW is about risk ASSESSMENT. If you think the risk is already negligable (and lets face it just how many personnel have been run over by aircraft or vehicles on the apron?) then that should suffice. This is another example of jumping on the "civilian best practice" instead of applying common sense. It's all about awareness and application of a bit of common sense.

Oh and as Gnd said, we need a few more men to take over and challenge the HSAW nonsense.

[996]

I was informed recently that one of the reasons for wearing the vest was not only for the obvious H&S rubbish but also for security considerations. not too sure about the logic behind that though.

[Talking Radalt]

not only for the obvious H&S rubbish but also for security considerations. not too sure about the logic behind that though.

Maybe the thinking is we'll all look like policemen, thus deterring any passing intruder.

[HEDP]

Hi-vis are in for those not walking to crew in to their aircraft where I am despite an engineer having one sucked into rotating components during a ground test.

The H & S nazis didn't think about the loose flappy ends for maintainers when they did their risk assesment for this one.

[Yellow Sun]

Long ago when the RAF first started to go "green" the first Hi Vis feature was the cross of reflective tape applied to our bone domes. One of our number felt that this should be improved upon and wrote an L.G. Groves submission for "Toned Down Reflective Tape". He was however a little concerned when it became apparent that someone further up the food chain was taking it seriously!

I remember the night at Wyton when a crew bus nearly took out a crew on the ORP. Hi Vis vests might have made that less exciting! As was said above there is no doubt that wearing Hi Vis clothing on the ramp at a busy airport is a very wise move regardless of the element of compulsion. But with military operations there will come a time when it is definitely unwise to wear Hi Vis and if you are to operate safely in that environment then people must be fully aware of the problems and difficulties. To do that you must train for it and therin lies the problem, who is going to accept the risk?

Good luck and stay safe.
YS

[A and C]

Bit of common ?

Hi vis vests on the ramp at night or in very lo vis......... Yes!

Hi vis vests on the ramp on a bright day.........No!

The problem is that this requires thought and the H&S nazis can't let any of us think for our selfs.

[Almost_done]

I think you are wrong, they may for people working - but not going to ac

You should check AESOs old boy, all personnel on the ASP are to wear high viz vests I think you'll find.

[Spurlash2]

Yellow Sun,
Surely the cross of reflective tape on a bonedome is not for "green reasons", but for survival situations when you will require more profile; say, in an evening aquatic survival situation. Aircrew employed on operational Land Manoeuvre malarkey use a strip of 'Harry Black Maskers' to cover up the reflective bits.

This stops the enemy finding you.

At homebase, however, the bowser driver gets a better than even chance to run you down.
S2