The American National Safety Institute (ANSI) is a private, non-profit membership organization that manages and regulates the development of voluntary safety standards for products and systems in the United States. Founded in 1918, ANSI and its members have laid the groundwork for national standardization and assessment frameworks in industries encompassing nearly every discipline. ANSI also supports American markets within the international community while preserving consumer and environmental safety.
ANSI’s diverse group of stakeholders comprises both the private and public sectors. These include government agencies, industrial organizations, companies, trade associations, labor unions, consumer groups, professional societies, academia, international entities, and individuals. Members collaborate to determine an agreement on each standard. American National Standards (ANSs), as they are called, are prepared by autonomous Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs), a process that ANSI is responsible for monitoring. ANSI accredits SDOs to ensure that the procedures used to design ANSs abide by the conditions prescribed in the ANSI Essential Requirements. These include openness, balance, consensus, and due process, which are key to assuring that ANSs are created equitably, accessibly and that they respond to the constituency. ANSI allows anyone directly or materially affected to participate in the development process, or to access an appeals mechanism. This guarantees that all relevant parties have the chance to speak up and that standards will serve and protect public interest.
ANSI is also dedicated to Conformity Assessment, the procedures by which both manufacturers and independent third parties determine fulfillment of standards requirements. Although ANSI itself does not develop ANSs, it provides a venue where thousands contribute their knowledge, talents, and efforts to internal membership negotiations on how standardization and assessment should be achieved in every industry. Categorized, these include: ISO Quality Management; Workplace Safety Standards; Environment, Health, and Safety Management System Standards; Conformity Assessment; Manufacturing and Production Standards; Energy Standards; Automotive and Aerospace Standards; Product Design Standards; Software Standards; Electronics Standards; and Other Standards for niche applications. These standards expedite widespread market acceptance and protect consumers.
ANSI represents the United States in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), where it promotes the use of American standards internationally.