Summer.
The season of swimming and road construction.
The months of days at the lake and traffic delays because of major highway and interstate projects.
Although the frustration of being stuck in traffic whether you are on the way to the city pool or a cross country family vacation can be great, the reality is that no amount of time is more valuable than the lives of the workers who are completing these projects. For this reason, road construction crews are required to wear high visibility clothing. Know as high vis workwear by the crews, there are safety clothing companies that specialize in manufacturing the specific items that are required. And while there are some workers who are required to purchase their own high vis pants, shirts, vest, and other pieces of clothing, there are also a growing number of companies that provide these items for their employees. In an effort to make sure that no one on a crew falls short in the kind of high vis pants and other apparel that is required, some of the largest companies make sure that they order these items in bulk and make them available to both experienced and new employees.

In addition to wearing the right protective clothing items, it is also necessary for these workers to make sure that they are wearing quality footwear. Did you know, for instance, that although the average person may walk 10,000 steps a day, a construction worker or laborer may walk more than 30,000?. Both for protection and comfort, there are specific kinds of shoes and boots that are often required for many of the construction jobs in this country. As a result, at the very minimum, workers often spend $70 is spent per employee on foot protection each year. Some of these expenses can be submitted to employers and can be reimbursed, while other workers are expected to cover their own costs.
Even with the right kind of clothing and the right kind of shoes, the one thing that might be the most important in keeping road crew members safe is experience. In fact, research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that workers 65 and older experienced 94.2 injuries per 10,000 full-time employees, less than any age group in the year 2014.