Q&A: Promotional Workwear and What You Need To KNow

By Nichole Stella

ANSI Explained  by SanMar,  Preston, Wash.

What is ANSI?
ANSI is the American National Standards Institute. ANSI organizes and categorizes standards across industries-everything from electronics to safety apparel. ANSI is a library of standards. In the case of safety apparel, the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) helped develop, write and file the standards for safety apparel with ANSI.

What does it mean to be "ANSI Compliant"?
To put it simply, it means the item is compliant with the standards on file with the American National Standards Institute. While our items are ANSI compliant they are not ANSI approved. No products are actually approved by ANSI, and if you see a product claiming to be, it is a false claim.

The Safety Equipment Institute (SEI) is a third party group that tests and certifies products to see if they really are compliant with ANSI standards. If they pass this test, the products can be considered SEI certified.

The majority, if not all, of the safety apparel in our industry is not SEI certified. It is a very expensive process and would raise the price of safety garments so they are no longer price competitive. SEI certification is usually reserved for items that are very technical in nature, or would pose a significant legal liability if they were not certified.

What does Class I, II, III Mean?
Safety Apparel can be Class I, Class II or Class III.

Class I garments are for users who have ample separation from vehicular traffic that does not exceed 25 mph and where the background is not complex. Parking service attendants, workers in warehouses with equipment traffic, shopping cart retrievers, maintenance workers, and delivery vehicle drivers would wear this class of garment.

Class II garments are intended for users who need greater visibility in inclement weather conditions and whose activities occur near roadways where traffic speeds exceed 25 mph. Workers who would wear this class of garment include railway workers, school crossing guards, parking and toll gate personnel, airport ground crews and law enforcement personnel directing traffic.

Class III garments provided for the highest level of conspicuity to workers with high task loads in a wide range of weather conditions where traffic exceeds 50 mph. The standard recommends these garments for all roadway construction personnel and vehicle operators, utility workers, survey crews, emergency responders, railway workers and accident site investigators.

What does this mean to us?
Local standards are emerging for workers that need to wear high-visibility, ANSI compliant clothing.

Federal Standards: In 2005, a federal transportation-spending bill contained a clause that directs the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to draft a regulation requiring highway workers to wear high visibility clothing (Textile Rental, November 2005). After the regulation is written, the demand for high-visibility clothing will increase.
State Standards: Washington & Minnesota's state codes incorporate standards for high-visibility garments for flaggers. These state codes subject employers to legal liability if their employees are not outfitted with the proper apparel. More states are following suit.

The Safety Vest is the most recognized item for reducing the risk of injury (as found in a 2001 survey sponsored by the ISEA). The safety T-shirt is also widely used.

During this period of economic and employment uncertainty, talk of American manufacturing (or lack thereof) has been at the forefront of many conversations. What has become clear in these discussions is that it's imperative for the U.S. to ramp up its skilled labor force for the success of manufacturing in this nation. As a testament to this, The Office of the Press Secretary reported, "The manufacturing sector currently employs over 11 million Americans, and by itself would be one of the 10th largest economies in the world."

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Nichole Stella Author's page Nichole Stella is group president/publishing director of Promo Marketing Media Group, which consists of Print+Promo, Promo Marketing and NonProfitPro.

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