A-SAFE first to complete ANSI MH31.2 crash barrier certification

Polymer safety systems provider A-SAFE announced this week it completed testing and certification for ANSI MH31.2 - Test Method for Crash Testing Industrial Guardrail Barriers and Barrier Posts.

A-SAFE is the first company to be certified under MH31.2.

MHI’s ProGMA industry group developed ANSI MH31.2 to establish a common, independently-verifiable crash-testing method for industrial guardrails and barriers.

Industry need for repeatable measuring standard

For years, industries lacked clarity on a set of safety standards to use.

As material handling environments become faster and more automated, collisions with industrial infrastructure have become increasingly common.

A-SAFE said these incidents drive up equipment damage costs, downtime costs, worker risk, and OSHA regulatory exposure.

In response, MHI ProGMA has called for wide use of the testing standards to reduce such incidents in industrial environments.

“For too long, U.S. safety leaders and specifiers have lacked certainty on how to independently verify barrier performance,” said Dean Borrington, A-SAFE director of R&D. “MH31.2 provides a clear, repeatable way to measure impact protection, and we were happy to submit our systems to the rigorous process. A-SAFE’s testing proves - with hard numbers - how our barriers outperform when they’re actually hit in demanding material handling environments.”

Real-world testing environments

Testing under the MH31.2 standard evaluates barriers intended to protect people, assets, and infrastructure in industrial facilities such as warehouses, distribution centers, data centers, manufacturing sites, and more.

As MHI ProGMA advances MH31.2 across the industry, A-SAFE stepped forward to become the first polymer safety barrier provider to complete the testing.

Conducted Feb. 3-6, A-SAFE tested its industrial safety barriers in real-world material handling environments, reflecting its focus on engineered performance and alignment with the requirements that safety professionals, engineers, and procurement teams need.

“MH31.2 is a major milestone for the safety barrier industry in the U.S.,” said James Smith, A-SAFE CEO and co-founder. “We agree that the independent standard should be the baseline for this category. By completing certification first, we’re making it easier for safety teams to confidently get the right protection in place, and raising the bar across the industry.”