Product standards are essential for designing, manufacturing, testing, specifying and using safety and personal protective equipment. A new booklet from the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) examines how these standards are developed, and why companies that manufacture and use safety equipment should be involved in the process.
Safety Equipment Standards - Your Keys to Business Success gives an overview of the importance of using personal protective and safety equipment made to rigorous standards. The 12-page brochure is organized in a Q&A format with three sections answering questions about U.S. standards, international standards and conformity assessment.
It includes information on the U.S. standards system and the role of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the growing importance of international standards in global commerce and how ISEA fits into this system as an accredited standards developer.
The booklet also explains how ISEA member companies, users, regulators and safety experts are involved in drafting, approving and using standards, and why it is important for manufacturers to participate in development of standards for the safety equipment they make and sell.
“We developed this brochure to remind managers about the importance of equipping workers with safety equipment designed and made to exacting standards,” said ISEA President Dan Shipp. “For workers, it's an assurance that the safety equipment they wear and use is tested against the hazards they face.”
Individual copies of Safety Equipment Standards - Your Keys to Business Success are available without charge by emailing your name, title, organization and street address to Joe Walker, ISEA marketing communications advisor, [email protected]. Or, you may download a PDF version from ISEA's website, www.safetyequipment.org.