NEMA Revises Two National Injury Standards
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association has revised two of its standards that protect against personal injury.
Originally published in 1991 and revised in 1998, the new revision, ANSI Z535.3-2007, American National Standard Criteria for Safety Symbols, incorporates several significant changes. The recently revised standard provides general principles for the design, evaluation, and use of safety symbols, as well as a procedure to evaluate a given image's effectiveness in communicating its intended message.
The safety alert symbol has been harmonized with color alternatives specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In addition, Annex A of the document now includes illustrations of the standard's principles and guidelines. Finally, safety symbol examples have been moved from the normative body of the standard into an informative annex (Annex C), and a wider variety of symbols related to file and other safety conditions are now included.
Additionally, NEMA has revised ANSI Z535.5-2007, American National Standard for Safety Tags and Barricade Tapes (for Temporary Hazards), which establishes a communication system that uses different signal words and colors to distinguish between levels of hazards.
The revised standard defines the requirements for the design and use of safety tags and barricade tapes, establishing a uniform and consistent visual layout for safety information. In the interest of harmonization with international standards, the document now permits the use of different colors with the safety alert symbol.
For more information, visit www.nema.org.