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Osborne gives thumbs-up to solar-powered site clothing

27 Apr 17 Positive feedback from a three-month trial has led Osborne to extend the use of protective site clothing that features solar-charged lights.

Osborne Infrastructure teams were the first to trial the VIZ360 clothing. The feedback from the teams is that the technology is lightweight, comfortable and helps in poor lighting, making it much easier to see workers on foot. A further benefit of VIZ360 is that it also produces enough light from the solar-charged technology, to be able to see things on the ground. The team stayed visible in all low light situations, giving them a sense of added security, reported the company.

The trial took place over three-month period and across a range of levels of users working on projects on the M25, M6 and M62. As a result of the successful trial, the highways business is now using this workwear on projects at Gade and on some M25 projects.

Osborne safety, health and environmental advisor Will Kinson said: “ Throughout the trialling of this new clothing, we found our workers were easily observed by other people working nearby, which allows for a quicker response if something were to go wrong.  The other benefits are that there are no cumbersome battery packs, the work wear is comfortable, washable and easily maintained.”

Other glow technologies that had been trialled relied mostly on battery packs that were found to be very unreliable. Cables going through the garments became damaged too easily and the clothing was uncomfortable or snag on other equipment. When VIZ360 was compared to other Glow Technologies, it was found that the cost effectiveness is good value for money.

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MPU
MPU

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