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The 2009 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Ken Brown for his leadership in developing and promoting the ANSI standard for high visibility apparel

11/09/2009

Retired 3M executive Ken Brown is the 2009 recipient of the Robert B. Hurley Distinguished Service Award, presented by ISEA during the Fall Meeting.  He was honored for his leadership in development of high visibility safety apparel in the US.

Brown was responsible for government relations and global standards development for 3M Personal Safety Products when he came to ISEA in 1997 with an idea to enhance the safety of construction workers and others whose jobs put them at risk of being struck by moving traffic.

He knew that a product standard, similar to one in use throughout Europe, would spur development of products using high-tech fluorescent and retroreflective materials, and create a safer work environment for anyone facing hazards caused by low visibility during the day or at night.

In just two years, the first edition of the American National Standard for high visibility safety apparel, ANSI/ISEA 107, was published.  Its effect was the creation of a new class of PPE - the "ANSI vest."  Within a short time, employers, safety managers and regulators were making "ANSI Class 2" a familiar specification for highway projects and other workzones.  

Today the standard is cited by the Federal Highway Administration and regulators in all 50 states, and the High Visibility Products Group, of which Brown was the first chairman, is the association's largest product group.   

In presenting the award, ISEA Chairman Sid Ellis praised Ken Brown's leadership in development of the standard, as well as promoting it to regulatory agencies and contributing to a market development program for all PPE in construction workzones.

"The real beneficiaries, of course, are the working men and women who, in a few short years, have adopted high-visibility apparel as the new uniform of their high-hazard workplace," Ellis said.  "By being more visible, they are safer.  They, like ISEA, can thank Ken Brown for that."

ISEA's Distinguished Service Award is presented annually in memory of Robert B. Hurley, president of Fendall, Inc. and  leader in ISEA, who died in 2002.  It honors a person who, by a single action or the work of a lifetime, has made a significant and lasting contribution to the health and safety of workers.