What’s the Difference Between Class 1, 2, and 3 Work Trousers

Getting the best quality work trousers on the legs of your hardest-working team members is about more than just making them comfy and productive.  And it’s even about more than keeping those same workers protected and safe from tough conditions and giving them all the perfect pockets, holsters and other features that go along with specially reinforced garments that are built to last.  Snickers work trousers are a perfect example of a brand and set of products that tick every box – but what box have we yet to tick so far?  That would be the type of centralised certification that may be necessary for work sites’ internal processes and externally-imposed rules and regulations.

According to the International Organisation for Standardisation, or ISO, the certification that is most relevant for work trousers that need to be easily seen on difficult work sites is EN ISO 20471.  ISO gets its name from the Greek word ‘isos’ – which means ‘equal’.  The equality, of course, is about the mainly protective standards that are required for Snickers work trousers to achieve ISO 20471 certification, which is recognised in every country and language of the world.  The standard relates mainly to the trousers’ high-visibility features, enabling those hard-working but vulnerable legs to be seen no matter the light or otherwise low-visibility conditions.

Let’s use Snickers work trousers, founded by an electrician and craftsman who in 1975 was frustrated with the poor quality of work wear, as the perfect way to illustrate the difference between the 3 distinct classes within the EN ISO 20471 certification standard:

Class 1

Basically, classes 1 through 3 are rated in terms of the level of visibility – with class 3 being the most conspicuous of all.

Class 1 Snickers work trousers are therefore the least visible in the range, requiring only 0.14m2 of specifically visible background material – meaning the bulk of the trousers can be a standard colour such as black or dark blue, but perhaps with high-viz pockets or cuffs for the calves.

* 0.1m2 must be retroflective material

* 0.2m2 background and retroflective materials may be combined

Class 2

Class 2 Snickers work trousers are the middle-of-the-road high-viz option, although a wearer may actually be able to fit into this certification category by wearing two fully-exposed and cleaned class 1 garments, for instance.  For standalone class 2 certification, however, the precise nature of the high-viz colours and light reflective qualities are more strictly enforced, with five times the minimum background material of class 1 and the background and retroflective qualities unable to be combined.

Class 3

For class 3 Snickers work trousers, they must fall under the specifications labelled by ISO as the ones providing the “highest visibility” – with eight times the high-viz background material coverage of class 1 and double the retroflective features.  It’s suitable for the tasks with the highest necessity for being seen, like road workers on a busy highway, with class 3 safety levels also able to be achieved with a combination of classes 1 and 2.

Snickers work trousers are some of the greatest in the business, but there’s a lot more in today’s vast, exciting and innovative range. Rest assured the perfect work trousers with the ideal durability, comfort, fit, materials, special features and all the up-to-date safety and protective certifications are waiting for your hard-working team, so don’t hesitate to get in touch for some help.