ANSI health and safety labels are designed to prevent accidents and protect against hazards. That being said, they’re slightly different to other safety labels – that’s because they’re all about sticking to the standards of the ANSI.
So, what is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and why should you use its labels to make your workplace safer? Read on to find out, here.
What Is ANSI?
ANSI stands for the American National Standards Institute. It’s a non-profit organisation that oversees voluntary standards created in almost all sub-sections of manufacturing.
Have you ever wondered who defines all the terminology in health and safety, so that manufacturers know what their regulations need to specifically be about? A lot of that will be decided under the ANSI.
It coordinates technical regulations with standards to ensure manufacturers are operating correctly on all fronts and ensures U.S. products can be sold abroad by keeping consistent with international standards.
What Does the ANSI do?
The ANSI works closely with the government and its industry stakeholders to create voluntary standards assessment and development systems that companies embrace nationwide. It oversees standards relating to definitions, terms, and quality rules, and more.
When Was the ANSI Founded?
The ANSI was founded in 1918 and was originally called the American Engineering Standards Committee. It’s taken on a few different names over the years but became the American National Standards Institute in 1969.
What is the ANSI Standard?
When it comes to safety labels, the ANSI standard applies to the guidelines published by the ANSI as to how safety labels should be designed.
According to these guidelines, there should be a safety header and signal word – this might be ‘danger’, ‘warning’, ‘caution’, or another identifier. This should also be paired with an easily identifiable pictogram.
The main way in which ANSI standards differ from other health and safety labels is that they incorporate a short message that explains the hazard. That, and the overall layout of the labels. On ANSI labels, the pictogram will feature on the left-hand side, the signifying word will be on the top right-hand side with a corresponding-coloured background, and the description will be beneath the header.
You can find ANSI warning labels in all sorts of hazardous places, including (but not limited to) on heavy machinery, chemicals, electrical wires and panels, and more.
Start Your Compliance Journey with Label Source
If you’re looking to make sure your business or workplace is compliant with ANSI regulations, you can do so by purchasing and implementing safety labels from the abundant selection of ANSI safety labels at Label Source.
You can get in touch with one of our experts today, start browsing our selection of products to find what suits your business’ needs, or find out more about the latest in health and safety by checking out our blog.
