American National Standards Institute Injuries

Injuries and fatalities from asphyxiation are often associated with personnel entry into inerted equipment or enclosures. Guidance on safe procedures for confined space access are provided by OSHA (OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.146, Confined Space Entry Standard, 2000), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI, Z117.1, Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces, 2003), Hodson (Hodson, Safe Entry into Confined Spaces, Handbook of Chemical Health and Safety, American Chemical Society, 2001), and BP (BP, Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling, 2003). OSHA has established 19.5 vol % as the minimum safe oxygen concentration for confined space entry without supplemental oxygen supply (see Table 23-18). Note that OSHA imposes a safe upper limit on 02 concentration of 23.5 vol % to protect against the enhanced flammability hazards associated with 02-enriched atmospheres. 

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has established a voluntary consensus standard for recording basic facts relating to the nature and occurrence of work injuries, ANSI Z16.2.( ) This standard has been in use for more than 30 years and provides a consistent baseline for many report formats. The standard focuses on injury to personnel and presents standard classification categories. If alternate codes are used in incident reports, special effort and notation must be made to avoid confusing the reader. 

American National Standards Institute. ANSI Z16.2 Method of Recording Basic Facts Relating to the Nature and Occurrence of Work Injuries. New York. 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Specifications for Informationed Signs Complementary to ANSI Z35.1-1972, Accident Prevention Signs, Z35.4-1973, ANSI, New York, 1973. American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Method of Recording and Measuring Work Injury Experience, Z16.1-1973, ANSI, New York, 1973. 

There are at least two industry consensus standards for injury and illness prevention programs. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) have published a voluntary consensus standard, ANSI/AIHA ZIO—2005 Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (ANSI/AIHA 2005). The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group, a consortium of selected Registrars, national standards bodies, professional associations and research institutes, has produced a similar document, OHSAS 18001—2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS Project Group 2007). These consensus-based standards have been widely accepted in the world of commerce and adopted by many businesses on a voluntary basis. 

Of the 15 variations of incident investigation reports received, six promote an overly simplistic and inappropriate approach to causal factor determination. They reflect this instmction, although somewhat ancient, given in a publication of the American National Standards Institute, the Method of Recording Basic Facts Relating to the Nature and Occurrence of Work Injuries—Z16.2. 

Per American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Z16.2, an injury that prevents a person from performing a regularly established job for one full day (24 hours) beyond the day of the incident. See also Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). 

Per Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, employers shall ensure that each affected employee wears protective footwear when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries due to falling or rolling objects or objects piercing the sole. Such equipment shall comply with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z-41-1991, American National Standard for Personal Protection-Protective Footwear. Protective footwear is a part of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is typically worn in industry. See also ASTM F 2412, Test Methods for Foot Protection, and ASTM F 2413, Standard Specification for Performance Requirements for Foot Protection Safety Shoe. 

Any inj ury other than death or permanent total disability that results in the loss, or complete loss of use, of any member or part of a member of the body, or any permanent impairment of functions of the body or part thereof, regardless of any pre-existing disability of the injured member or impaired body function. These cases are used in computing American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Z16.2 injury rates whether or not time is lost. Also refers to a term used by the state workers compensation office to describe an individual who is stable, but may have permanently... 

The number of serious injuries, as defined in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Z16.2 per 1,000,000 employee-hours of exposure. When serious injury frequency rate is used, it should be clearly identified as serious injury frequency rate, to avoid confusion with other frequency rates. This rate relates serious injuries, as defined, to the employee-hours worked during the period and expresses the number of such injuries in terms of million-hour units by use of the following formula SIFR = Number of Serious Injuries x 1,000,000/Employee-Hours of Exposure. Serious Violation... 

As defined by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 535.4, a sign or label to indicate a hazardons situation that if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury. Warning is to be indicated in black letters on an orange background. See also Cantion Label or Sign Safety Alert Symbol Safety Sign. 

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has emergency eyewash guidelines in place to help ensure the best possible outcome for injured workers. ANSI Z358.1-2009 requires that a primary eyewash station be located within a ten-second walk from any caustic substance that can cause an eye injury. Plus, it calls for eyes to be flushed for a full 15 minutes with fluid maintained at a tepid temperature (for most hazards) in order to safely treat the eye without causing further injury or discomfort. Tepid is defined as between 60 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

This chapter discusses the requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE). It also addresses other control mechanisms and procedures. Engineering controls should be the primary method used to eliminate or minimize hazard exposure in the workplace. Administrative controls must be set in motion prior to the use of PPE. When such controls are not practical or applicable, PPE shall be employed to reduce or eliminate personnel exposure to hazards. PPE will be provided, used, and maintained when it has been determined that its use is required and that such use will lessen the likelihood of occupational injuries and/or illnesses. All personal protective clothing and equipment should be of a safe design and appropriate for the work to be performed. Only those items of protective clothing and equipment that meet National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) or American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards are to be procured or accepted for use. 

There are at least two industry consensus standards for injury and illness prevention programs. Ihe American National Standards Institute (ANSI)... 

What causes the most confusion concerning the recognition of a near miss incident are definitions that describe an incident as some event that may or may not have caused injury. That could be anything. The American National Standards Institute, Inc. (ANSI), Standard ANSI/AIHA ZIO-2005, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, is one of the many definitions that cause this confusion and applying its definition of a near miss will confuse the issue more. The institute defines a near miss as an incident ... 

If an employee is hindered in some way from either getting to or using an eyewash or shower station, it would be considered obstructed access under American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z358.1-2009, Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment, standard. Specifically, the ANSI standard states that a door is considered to be an obstruction. Other obstructions would include stairs, machinery (e.g., a conveyor that must be lifted), stored materials, etc. Also, the standard says that stations should not be located near potential hazards that may be adjacent to the path of travel that might cause further injury. 

This is essentially a weighted frequency rate, allowing the days lost due to temporary total disability to be recorded, and also a notional number of days to be recorded for fatalities and permanently disabled cases. The notional days often used are 6000 (20 working years at 300 days per year) for a fatality and 1800 for loss of an eye. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed an arbitrary schedule of notional days in relation to particular permanently disabling injuries, of which the foregoing are two examples. 

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed a standard (Z358.1) to address these requirements. Therefore, OSHA often refers employers to the ANSI Z358.1 standard as a recognized source of guidance for emergency body and face flushing requirements created to protect employees who may be exposed to injurious corrosive chemicals. 

Some consideration was given to the first MSDS for a laboratory chemical that students were actually ask to read in detail. One recommendation is to use an older form MSDS. These are usually shorter, are more narrative, and contain less arcane abbreviations than the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) format. The information on physical properties and precautionary labeling is usually found up front. The first MSDS should represent a chemical that has some obvious hazard already known to most of the students, such as ammonium hydroxide. The point is to introduce the MSDS as a useful document and convey some respect for the information it contains. TAs (and faculty) must be instructed not to belittle or ridicule the MSDS as a useless bureaucratic document. Students should appreciate the fact that a MSDS has to address the worst possible industrial scenario. They should be told that MSDSs for dilute solutions are often the same as those for concentrated solutions or pure chemicals. The same generic statements are often used, in particular the disclaimer that usually states something like The user should recognize that this product can cause severe injury and even death, especially if improperly handled or the known dangers are not heeded. This statement was on a MSDS for lump iron. 

American National Standards Institute, National Safety Council. Association of Casualty and Surety Companies (1962), American Natiorud Standard method of recording basic facts relating to the nature and occurrence (tf work injuries. (Report reaffirmed 1969. Revision of Z16.2-194I). 

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