National Consensus Standards

In the United States and Canada there are organizations that
administer the development of voluntary consensus standards. The
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) administers these
standards for the United States and the Canadian Standards
Association (CSA) administers these for Canada. Voluntary consensus
standards are written through a rigorous development and review
process by industry experts, users, manufacturers, government
regulators, and other stakeholders. These standards represent what
is considered to be the minimum acceptable requirements for industry
products and practices.

In the fall protection industry, two major series of standards set
forth the requirements for our products; the ANSI Z359 series of
standards in the United States and the CSA Z259 series of standards in
Canada. In addition, ANSI A10.32-2004 covers products used in the
construction and demolition industries. Compliance with these
standards may not be a legal requirement in many areas, however
compliance does have legal relevance for everyone from the
manufacturer to the user. In addition, in the United States, OSHA
sets standards for certain products either not covered in one of the
ANSI standards, or in addition to them.

At Elk River, we label each product with the standard(s) to which the products comply. Elk River uses multiple techniques to ensure our products comply with the applicable standards. We use internal engineering controls, extensive product testing both internal and external, as well as our industry expertise. In addition to this, we use "third party" certification on many of our products.

"Third party" certification means we have submitted the product to an
independent, outside, body, for testing and certification. Our labels
indicate whether the product is "compliant" or "certified", and if
"certified", by whom.

When sourcing fall protection, you can rest assured of Elk River’s
commitment to assuring our products meet or exceed the applicable
National Consensus Standards, as well as government regulations. We
can supply test records, product certifications, or independent
certification as appropriate.


Quality System Standards

One way Elk River ensures each product complies with National
Consensus Standards is through our ISO 9001:2000 compliant Quality
Management System. ISO 9001:2000 is a standard developed to
establish the best practices for Quality Management Systems. The ISO
9001:2000 standard is recognized worldwide as the blue print for
quality systems, and is considered the "Gold Standard" in quality
management systems.

The 2000 version of ISO 9001 is much more extensive than previous
versions. Previous versions were product oriented, whereas the 2000
version is much more customer oriented and system oriented. The 2000
version covers every aspect of a company that interacts with the
customer. It is a very rigorous process, but one that is very
beneficial.

Elk River’s Quality Management system has been certified as compliant
by an external registration organization, with a worldwide
reputation. A copy of our certification to ISO 9001:2000 is
available upon request.

Look for It. Be Safer Because of It.
 

 For further reference  Go to CSA’s Web Site >>