Of all the product categories out there, safety equipment is one of the only ones that touches every industrial distribution vertical.  

As you look to expand and diversify product lines, or keep up with the latest demand trends, tracking developments on the safety front could keep your sales teams educated and your inventory ready to meet upcoming needs. 

In this episode of the MDM Podcast — the first hosted solo by MDM Senior Editor Vesna Brajkovic — the leader of the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) joins us to give a comprehensive overview of the current state and market outlook of the PPE industry and the potential impacts of upcoming regulatory and safety standard changes.  

ISEA is an association that represents safety equipment and technology distributors, manufacturers and test labs. It also develops ANSI-accredited safety equipment standards in the U.S. 

ISEA President and CEO Cam Mackey takes us through the evolving landscape of personal protective equipment and the role distributors and manufacturers take in maintaining safety standards.  

“Distributors are such a critical … piece in the value chain,” Mackey said. “The manufacturers really trust and rely on you to be the tip of the spear. That’s making sure that you have the education/the information you need to not just talk confidently about the standards and the products, but to really think through the end users’ pain points to figure out how to help them with a job hazard analysis.” 

Several distributors that made it on MDM’s 2024 Top Distributors Lists are members of ISEA, including Airgas, Grainger, Blackhawk, Motion and Wesco. 

ICYMI: Wesco’s CIO joins the MDM Podcast to discuss the company’s digital transformation. 

With the vital role distributors have in educating end users about new standards and ensuring the right equipment is available when needed, Mackey highlights several key regulatory and safety standard changes on the horizon that distributors need to be prepared for, including: 

• Upcoming revision to the ANSI/ISEA Z89.1 standard for head protection; 

• A brand-new ANSI/ISEA105 standard and labeling system for cut-resistant gloves; 

• OSHA’s proposed heat stress standard, which could affect millions of workers across the United States. With a 120-day comment period pending, this proposed rule could significantly influence the demand for heat stress protection products. 

Mackey also discusses the roles distributors and manufacturers have in safety education; equity in PPE design and how outdated and incomplete data is still informing important design decisions; and the lingering impacts of the pandemic on the safety product and equipment cateogy four years later. 

Check out the full episode via the audio player above, and find our full library of past episodes here at mdm.com/podcasts.

To meet the MDM Podcast hosts and hear more conversations with top executives in the distribution industry, register for MDM’s upcoming SHIFT Conference, set for Sept. 11-13 in downtown Denver.