ASTM ANSI What?!?!
When you head out to look at goggles, you may notice tags or information by vendors stating they are ANSI or ASTM compliant, and that means exactly what to the rest of the free world? I figured since I know a bit about standards and standards organizations, I'd try to touch in a high level on both of these standards as they pertain to goggles. First let's start with ANSI.
ANSI or the American National Standards Institute, is an organization who's goal is to oversee the creation and distribution of norms and guidelines used by industry to address quality, construction, materials, and more when performing some sort of function. Simply put for this article, they create a standard by which a manufacturer can implement within their build process to help ensure the product meets a certain quality. So with that being said, let's take a simple quick look at the minimum requirements for goggles.
ANSI Z87.1 (American National Standards Institute)
- Must provide adequate protection against the hazards for which they are designed
- Be reasonably comfortable
- Fit securely, without interfering with movement or vision
- Be capable of being disinfected if necessary, and be easy to clean
- Be durable
- Fit over, or incorporate prescription eyewear
- More detailed standard descriptions are available at http://www.labsafety.com/refinfo/printpage.htm?page=/refinfo/ezfacts/ezf251.htm
You may notice that the goggle manufacturer states "meets requirements for ANSI Z87.1 Impact Protection, or ASTM F659 Impact Protection." This simply means, that if you read the ANSI Z87.1 or ASTM F659 standards and the requirements requires for impact protection, the manufacture has adhered to and met all the requirements defined for impact protection. This does not mean the manufacturer meets ALL requirements for the complete standard, unless they state they have. Generally speaking a vendor will advertise impact protection with winter sports goggles, to assure consumers the goggle will stand up to impacts of a certain nature, and not just crumple and injure the consumer during impact.
ASTM was formally known as the "American Society for Testing and Material." It's now an international standards organization. Similar to ANSI, the ASTM standard also defines the requirements they deem necessary to ensure alpine snow/ski eyewear meets various quality standards.
Essentially, these standards ensure, the goggles are designed and built to withstand impact forces defined by standards, without causing injury to the face or skin. The lenses meet or exceed minimum requirements set forth to ensure they are clear, and fog free. The standards cover much more than just impact, and lens quality, and can be read online. If you're purchasing goggles, and you notice the standards in the description you can be assured the goggle manufacturer has undergone testing and meets the requirements for safety and design. This may help when trying to decide which goggles to purchase. Please keep in mind though, that just because a vendor does not adhere to these two standards, DOES NOT mean the goggles are not incredibly well built. Remember to always check out goggles in person, check the size, facial fit, build quality and lens quality.