Our New ANSI Z535 and ISO 3864 Resources

Are you wondering about how to incorporate the latest best practices into the safety labels and warnings for your products? We’ve recently released a complimentary guidebook , accompanied by new online safety resources, that detail ANSI Z535.4 and ISO 3864-2 labeling compliance for our North American and international manufacturing clients. Our new and comprehensive guide on label format options – as well as brief and clear cut infosheets on the ANSI and ISO standards that we’ve developed – have information to help manufacturers comply with the latest best practices for labels and recent updates from each standards organization.

Our Free Labeling Guide for Equipment Manufacturers

“Manufacturers have a number of core responsibilities related to the machinery or equipment they produce. That includes designing safe products that comply with relevant regional best practices, such as those for product labels and warnings. For decades, manufacturers have turned to the ANSI and ISO standards to guide their efforts. However, the standards are not prescriptive – and there are many nuances related to how to practically apply them, especially as the standards themselves and the safety landscape evolve over time. This is where the Clarion Safety team can come in to help,” says our CEO, Ron Crawford.

“Our new ANSI and ISO resources are a reflection of the clear and concise guidance that Clarion Safety is committed to providing to serve the product safety and compliance community. When it comes to best practice standards like ANSI Z535.4 and ISO 3864-2, our Clarion Safety team is ready to assist, helping companies to take out any guesswork, lost time, or anxiety involved in meeting labeling requirements, and harmonizing the two standards together.”

Latest Updates to the ANSI and ISO Standards
There are two main standards for safety labels that are key to creating effective warnings: ANSI Z535.4 domestically in the U.S. and ISO 3864-2 internationally. “By striving to follow industry consensus standards that define today’s best practices in visual safety communication, equipment manufacturers can improve product safety and reduce their liability exposure,” says Angela Lambert, our head of standards compliance. Angela is also our representative as the chair of ANSI Z535.1, as a delegate representative of the U.S. TAG to the ISO/TC 145, responsible for the library of ISO 7010 registered symbols and the ISO 3864 set of standards, and as a liaison between ISO TC/283 and ISO/TC 145 committees.

Both the ANSI and ISO standards are reviewed and revised periodically. ANSI Z535 is being republished in 2022 . This year marks the first time many of the standards in the ANSI Z535 family – including ANSI Z535.4 – have been reviewed and updated in more than 10 years. Three of the six ANSI standards (Z535.1, Z535.3, and Z535.5) were republished in August, and the remaining three (Z535.2, Z535.4, and Z535.6) are expected to be published before the end of the year. ISO 3864-2 was republished in 2022 without any changes, however, the previous republication in 2016 contained significant updates related to format options and symbol use.

A Guidebook Detailing Key Topics for ANSI and ISO Standards Compliance
Through our recently released guidebook , our safety experts detail the following key topics as they relate to manufacturers:

Section 1: A Historical Overview of ANSI Z535.4 and ISO 3864-2
Section 2: The Comparison of Different Labeling Options for Manufacturers
Section 3: Symbol Only Formats Label Compliance and Use
Section 4: Symbol and Text Formats Label Compliance and Use
Section 5: Text Only Formats Label Compliance and Use
Section 6: Wordless Formats Label Compliance and Use
Section 7: Multilingual Formats Label Compliance and Use

These sections cover an in-depth analysis of the different ways to apply the ANSI and ISO warning and labeling standards to suit a manufacturers’ specific product and environment.

Additional Resources for Manufacturers
Our free downloadable ANSI Z535.4 and ISO 3864-2 guide was developed to go hand-in hand with its new online safety resources – which includes separate downloadable infosheets with details on each standard – that help manufacturers better understand ANSI and ISO as a whole.

Along with these new educational resources, we also offer free label review services which include evaluating a current or future products’ labeling system and providing recommendations on consolidation opportunities as well as how to harmonize the ANSI and ISO standards for the application at hand. An additional service offered by our team of experts is our comprehensive machinery and equipment risk assessments. These assessments are intended for manufacturers in all stages of product design and development, including the initial stages of the design cycle, the final development of the product, and after placement on the market. If you have any questions about ANSI or ISO labeling standards, reach out to our team today!

• Standards Insider