WHY IS ANSI IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Falls in the workplace are a major cause of death and injury, and have been on the rise in recent years, though a vast number go unreported. Most of these instances were prevent- able. As a result, many different government agencies and other organizations have worked together to develop new, higher standards for greater safety in the workplace.

While ANSI standards are considered “voluntary”, OSHA can adopt any of these standards and turn them into a federal requirement. In the early 70’s, OSHA simply used what was available at the time as a basis for their new regulations. ANSI standards were considered the best at the time, and thus became a driving force behind how OSHA Regulation was developed, and how regulatory issues are handled today. The official stance of ANSI is as follows: “ANSI will furnish assistance and support and continue to encourage the develop- ment of national consensus standards for occupational safety and health issues for the use of OSHA and others.” Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20