Legislation Legislation (Law) for industrial safety differs from country to country and is regulated by organizations within those countries. This can be challenging for manufacturing to understand and meet such requirements, especially when working across multiple countries and regions. Specific understanding of local laws for industrial safety should be considered. Directives Directives are in place to help manufacturers understand and follow prescribed requirements. These directives typically are commercial regulations published by legally authorized organizations, but importantly, are not law. The EU directives however are somewhat of a unique case. The European Union (EU) requires its member states to achieve certain objectives, and directives are used by member state countries to meet such objectives. In many cases the directives are adopted into national law. Standards Standards are generally developed and published to offer guidelines for industry to use. Working to published and generally accepted standards, an acceptance of conformity to directives may be accepted.
It is important to note that complying with a C Standard gives automatic presumption of conformity with the EHSRs. In the absence of a suitable C Standard, A and B Standards can be used as part or full proof of EHSR conformity by pointing to compliance with relevant sections.
Agreements have been reached for cooperation between CEN/CENELEC and bodies such as ISO and IEC. This should ultimately result in common worldwide standards. In most cases an EN Standard has a counterpart in IEC or ISO. In general the two texts will be the same and any regional differences will be given in the forward of the standard.
U.S. and OSHA Standards Where possible, OSHA promulgates national consensus standards or established Federal standards as safety standards. The mandatory provisions (e.g., the word shall implies mandatory) of the standards, incorporated by reference, have the same force and effects as the standards listed in Part 1910. For example, the national consensus standard NFPA 70 is listed as a reference document in Appendix A of Subpart S-Electrical of Part 1910 of 29 CFR. NFPA 70 is a voluntary standard, which was developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). NFPA 70 is also known as the National Electric Code (NEC). By incorporation, all the mandatory requirements in the NEC are mandatory by OSHA.
ANSI Standards The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) serves as the administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system. It is a private, non-profit, membership organization supported by a diverse constituency of private and public sector organizations. ANSI, itself, does not develop standards; it facilitates the development of standards by establishing consensus among qualified groups. ANSI also ensures that the guiding principles of consensus, due process and openness are followed by the qualified groups. Below is a partial list of industrial safety standards that can be obtained by contacting ANSI. These standards are categorized as either application standards or construction standards. Application standards define how to apply a safeguarding to machinery. Examples include ANSI B11.1, which provides information on the use of machine guarding on power presses, and ANSI/RIA R15.06, which outlines safeguarding use for robot guarding.
Canadian Standards CSA Standards reflect a national consensus of producers and users – including manufactures, consumers, retailers, unions and professional organizations, and government agencies. The standards are used widely by industry and commerce and often adopted by municipal, provincial, and federal governments in their regulations, particularly in the fields of health, safety, building and construction, and the environment. Individuals, companies, and associations across Canada indicate their support for CSA’s standards development by volunteering their time and skills to CSA Committee work and supporting the Association’s objectives through sustaining memberships. The more than 7000 committee volunteers and the 2000 sustaining memberships together form CSA’s total membership. The Standards Council of Canada is the coordinating body of the National Standards system, a federation of independent, autonomous organizations working towards the further development and improvement of voluntary standardization in the national interest.
Australian Standards Most of these standards are closely aligned with the equivalent ISO/IEC/EN standards.
There are many standards covering a vast area of industry. The following information on key standards for industrial safety is shown here and is to the best of our knowledge and belief.
