Stakeholders Invited to Contribute as Consensus Body Participants on PPE Standards Related to Hand Protection and Workplace First Aid Kits

ISEA is soliciting interested parties as consensus body participants in the proposed revision of two key standards for products used in promoting worker safety:

ANSI/ISEA 105, Hand Protection Classification

First published in 1999, the standard establishes performance classifications for gloves or glove materials for a wide variety of properties representative of potential workplace hazards for which employee protection is needed and for which regulatory obligations are imposed.  These include protection from cuts, abrasions, punctures and thermal exposures.  The document provides or refers to appropriate test methods for specified criteria and provides pass/fail criteria to allow users to interpret test results and determine if certain hand protection products meet their needs.

ANSI/ISEA Z308.1, Minimum Requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits and Supplies

The widely-accepted standard details the requirements for first aid supplies used to treat a variety of common workplace injuries including:  cuts and abrasions, minor burns, strains and sprains and minor eye injuries.  Classification of first aid kits, designating the assortment of items and quantity of each item, is based on the anticipated number of users intended to be served by each first aid kit, as well as the complexity of the work environment and level of hazards.

Consensus bodies represent the views of a balanced cross-section of stakeholder interest categories to include:

• Producer– A manufacturer of the product covered by the standard or components thereof
• User– An organization that uses, specifies or purchases the product covered by the standard
• Government– An agency or department that has a regulatory or other interest in the product (government agencies that use the product fall under the User category)
• General Interest– An organization that has a special interest in this standard due to safety, technical or other requirements or an individual expert with knowledge in the area(s) covered by the standard, but who neither produces nor uses products covered by the standard.

ISEA expects to initiate consensus balloting in June 2021.  Contact Cristine Fargo, ISEA’s vice president, operations and technical services for additional information.  She can be reached at cfargo@safetyequipment.org.