We’ve all heard of OSHA regulations and the hefty fines that come from non-compliance with those regulations. But, why follow ANSI regulations if they aren’t enforced and you won’t be audited for compliance?
ANSI, which stands for the American National Standards Institute, is a “private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus 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” (Source: Wikipedia).
Following ANSI’s standards is voluntary, but I still think it’s important to “comply.” First off, ANSI itself doesn’t create the standards that it puts out. It acts more as an overseer of the development and use of standards created by different standards developing groups. So the standards are a consensus among industry and application experts. It also represents the interests of more than 125,000 companies and millions of professionals. So, the standards have been given due process and given support before they are put out there for companies to follow.
It is also important to note that by everyone agreeing to and following the same standards, voluntary or not, it is easier to do business and ensure the properties and performance of products are consistent. If similar products are tested the same way and expected to have the same qualities, doing business and ensuring product consistency is easier.
ANSI’s regulations impact almost every business sector, are you aware of the regulations that affect your business? If not, visit the ANSI web site to learn more www.ansi.org.
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