Safety Communication Update Released By Clarion Safety Systems Following International Organization For Standardization Meetings In Berlin, Germany
Milford, PA (PRWEB) April 28, 2016 -- Clarion Safety Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of safety signs and safety labels, is pleased to share insight on safety communication and symbols following the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committee meetings held this month in Berlin, Germany.
Clarion is an active member of the preeminent standards bodies responsible for safety sign standards – the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) domestically and ISO internationally. The company’s CEO, Geoffrey Peckham, is chairman of both the ANSI Z535 Committee for Safety Signs and Colors and of ANSI’s U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the ISO standards committee responsible for safety signs, labels, colors and symbols – ISO/TC 145.
This international committee, ISO/TC 145, standardizes the symbols that appear on products and for use in built environments – symbols that indicate, for example, windshield wipers and headlights on a car, fast and slow on a lawn tractor, and the location of departure gates and baggage claim at an airport.
ISO/TC 145 subcommittee 2 (SC 2), which focuses on safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colors, held its working group 1 (WG 1) and working group 3 (WG 3) meetings in Berlin in mid-April.
“These two groups of experts work with topics that affect our daily lives because their subject matter is about safety, specifically symbolic safety communication,” says Peckham. “The results of the recent meetings were substantive and will have a positive impact on our global society.”
WG 1's central task is the registration of standardized safety symbols that are meant to visually convey to viewers the nature of hazards and how to avoid them. April’s meeting centered on safety symbols being proposed for barbeque grills, ladders, and storm shelters, as well as updates on a wide range of safety symbols including those for use on farm and agricultural equipment.
“Progress was made in all of these areas of symbolic safety communication. This means that in time, when these symbols become widely used, they will add to the committee’s valuable legacy of helping to make the world a safer place,” says Peckham.
WG 3’s primary task is the revision of ISO 16069 Safety Way Guidance Systems, a standard first published in 2004 focusing on emergency egress route markings to guide people out of buildings in crisis situations. The ISO standard was used as the basis for new New York City Building Code requirements in 2005 following the World Trade Center disaster. The new NYC code requirements mandated photoluminescent egress path markings in the stairwells of all commercial buildings over 75 feet tall. The World Trade Centers had such markings installed after the 1993 bombing. On 9/11, many people who safely evacuated the buildings credited their lives to “following the yellow brick road” created by these glow-in-the-dark photoluminescent egress pathmarkings.
“It’s now time to revise ISO 16069 to make use of new findings in the field, including learnings that were a direct result of the large-scale installation of safety way guidance systems in New York. WG 3’s meeting this month saw the revised draft of the document progress towards its next step, a Draft Information Standard version by the end of the year,” says Peckham.
The subject matter of ISO/TC 145/SC 2 is vast – from guiding people out of buildings to warning them of hazards related to machinery, ladders and grills – and its future consensus decisions are certain to impact safety communication around the world.
“Clarion’s leadership of the U.S. technical advisory group to this ISO technical committee, and its active participation as an expert on many of its working groups, is testimony to our commitment to make the world a safer place. Reducing risk and protecting people is the objective we share with our customers and with ISO/TC 145, where we help to make best practices a reality that every company can employ,” says Peckham.
In addition to its prominent roles on the ANSI and ISO standards committees, Clarion actively participates in leadership roles in standards-related initiatives headed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), the Association of Aquatic Professionals, and the Laser Institute of America.
To learn more about how ISO uses symbols, vocabulary and color to standardize safety signage on a worldwide basis, watch Clarion’s short, educational video “ISO Symbols for Safety Signs and Labels.”
ABOUT CLARION SAFETY SYSTEMS
Clarion Safety Systems, LLC, is the leading designer and manufacturer of visual safety solutions that help customers in more than 180 industries worldwide to make their products and premises safer. Clarion offers a full range of standard and custom products including machinery safety labels, environmental and facility safety signs, pipe and valve identification markings, lockout/tagout products, and safety-grade photoluminescent egress path-marking escape systems. Founded in 1990, the company continues to play a leading role in the development and writing of international and national standards for safety signs, labels, and markings. Clarion is headquartered at 190 Old Milford Road in Milford, PA, 18337, and online at http://www.clarionsafety.com.
ABOUT ISO
ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 161 national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-relevant international standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. To learn more, visit http://www.iso.org.
Erin Earley, Clarion Safety Systems, http://www.clarionsafety.com, +1 570-296-5686 Ext: 228, [email protected]
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