AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD INSTITUTE (ANSI) AND ITS RELATION TO SAFETY

American national standards institute

The ANSI is a nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide.

For example, standards make sure that people who own cameras can find the film they need for them anywhere around the globe.

The ANSI mission is to enhance the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating conformity and voluntary consensus standards and maintaining their integrity.

ANSI accredits standards that ensure consistency among the characteristics and performance of products, that people use the same definitions and terms regarding materials, and that products are tested the same way.

ANSI also accredits organizations that certify products or personnel in accordance with requirements that are defined in international standards. The institute is like the umbrella that covers thousands of guidelines that directly impact businesses in almost every sector.

Everything from construction equipment, to dairy standards, to energy distribution, and electrical materials is affected. ANSI is also actively engaged in accrediting programs that assess conformance to standards, including globally recognized programs such as the ISO 9000 Quality Management and ISO 14,000 Environmental Systems.

The ANSI has served as administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system since 1918. It was founded by five engineering societies and three government agencies.

Today, the Institute represents the interests of its nearly 1000 company, organization, government agency, institutional, and international members through its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Accreditation by ANSI signifies that a procedure meets the Institute’s essential requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process safeguards.

For this reason, American National Standards are referred to as “open” standards. In this context, open refers to a process that is used by a recognized organization for developing and approving a standard. The Institute’s definition of “open” basically refers to a collaborative, balanced, and consensus-based approval process.

The criteria used to develop these open standards balance the interests of those who will implement the standard with the interests and voluntary cooperation of those who own property or use rights that are essential to or affected by the standard.

For this reason, ANSI standards are required to undergo public reviews. In addition to facilitating the creation of standards in our country, ANSI promotes the use of U.S. standards internationally and advocates U.S. policy and technical positions in international and regional standards organizations.