WHATS BEHIND SAFETY ACRONYMS ?
Many of the familiar acronyms in the safety industry stand for nongovernmental agencies that play important roles in industry oversight and the development of standards. Here are some thumbnail sketches of the most commonly known agencies. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a nonprofit organization funded by private membership and designed to develop voluntary standards. The standards are developed with input from businesses in the industries to which the standards apply. ANSI periodically updates these standards to keep up with industry changes and to add new information as it is discovered. ANSI has written standards for all types of industries-safety and health, petroleum, banking and many others. One of ANSI’s goals is to make U.S. businesses competitive in the global market by providing standards from national and international sources. The venerable American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) was organized way back in 1898. ASTM is a nonprofit organization
