Perth worker hospitalised after ‘red back’ attack.

A Western Australian doctor has warned of the dangers of wearing high-vis shirts in direct sunlight after what she believes is the world's first case of burns from retro-reflective tape.

In a letter to the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia, emergency medicine specialist Dr Ioana Vlad explained how she treated a man for first-degree burns caused by the reflective tape on his shirt.

The issue was raised when a 40-year-old field environmental engineer was treated in a hospital emergency department in late January 2018 complaining of a rash across his back.
In assessing the patient, Dr Vlad noticed the rash was directly underneath a reflective stripe on the high-vis shirt the man had been wearing during the day.

Although the man's injuries were not serious, he said it caused him discomfort for a few days.

He was treated with aloe vera and painkillers for the first-degree burn, which was similar in severity to a sunburn.

Dr Vlad said almost anyone wearing shirts with reflective tape was at risk of similar injuries.

"It could happen to other people as well, especially if they wear the same type of shirt and the same type of reflective tape, and especially if they work out in the sun and the sun shines directly onto the shirt," she told the ABC.

The man said the tape often became extremely hot when he was working in hot conditions and that he had to regularly change positions to ensure it did not touch his skin.

Hi vis regulations

Under Australian Work Health and Safety regulations, employers are left to determine when high-visibility clothing should be worn, depending on the environment workers are in.

But Standards Australia, which sets requirements for safety equipment including high-visibility clothing, said state employers were responsible for ensuring their workers were safe with UV Protection Workwear when they were exposed to direct sunlight.