ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute – an organization that develops different norms for the American market. The ANSI norm regulates the requirements concerning connecting components for personal fall protection systems.

Not every change is always in line with the inventor’s plans. That is why also we at AUSTRIALPIN had to rename our ANSI components, as the word “ANSI” must not be contained in a product name.

The main difference between the regular COBRA® PRO STYLE models and those which comply with the requirements of the ANSI standard is the breaking load. In the future, we will therefore indicate the tensile strength breaking load for components that are certified according to the ANSI standard also in the product name. This way, the buckle model can be clearly identified straight away.

OVERVIEW OF THE CHANGED NAMES

WHAT DOES ANSI ACTUALLY MEAN?
ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute – an organization that develops different norms for the American market. The ANSI norm regulates the requirements concerning connecting components for personal fall protection systems. Some of our COBRA® buckles, thread back buckles and rings are certified according to the ANSI safety standard of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).

WHICH TENSILE STRENGTH DOES THE ANSI NORM REQUIRE?
The norm requires a minimum breaking load of 15 kN for BUCKLES. Rings require a breaking load of 22 kN. Additionally, the norm requires the rings (O-rings and D-rings) to be 100% single-piece-tested with 16 kN.

WHY ARE THE BUCKLES MARKED WITH 15 KN?
The ANSI norm requires buckles to be marked with a tensile strength breaking load of 15 kN. However, we at AUSTRIALPIN guarantee a breaking load of 18 kN and point this out in the product name and the technical specifications accordingly.

WHY MUST ANSI NOT BE USED IN THE PRODUCT NAME ANYMORE?
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) develops the norms. The ban of using the name ANSI in the product name shall prevent the customer from thinking the product was certified by ANSI when actually, ANSI only develops the norms and does not carry out certifications.

HOW IS A HIGHER BREAKING LOAD ACHIEVED?
Our components which comply with the ANSI norm are dimensioned stronger in all strength-relevant areas. This results in a higher breaking load of 18 kN.

A COBRA® PRO STYLE IS ALSO MARKED WITH 18 KN. WHERE IS THE DIFFERENCE?
The COBRA® PRO STYLE is marked with a tensile strength breaking load (9 kN) and a breaking load in loop configuration (18 kN). The marking on our COBRA® PRO STYLE 18 kN buckles, which are certified according to the ANSI standard, however, refers to the buckles’ tensile strength breaking load. This means that the COBRA PRO STYLE 18 kN is twice as strong as the COBRA® PRO STYLE.

Here is an overview over the embossed breaking load icons on the COBRA® PRO STYLE vs. the COBRA® PRO STYLE 18 kN:

WILL THERE BE ANY CHANGES APART FROM THE PRODUCT NAME?
Besides the product name, we also changed the product description a little to make clear: The component complies with the ANSI Z359.12-2019 standard. However, the product itself will not change.