I would suggest that if manufacturers are going to use pounds (pounds-force, actually, I think) or kN, or what have you, as multiple different types of measurement, some with builtin
safety factors, and some without, that they ought to say "
breaking strength" or "working load" or whatever
parameter label is pertinent, right next to the number, exactly as I suggested.
That doesn't seem especially complicated -- unless you are purposefully obfuscating the number so as to make more money whilst pushing liability off to others -- and is *much* more effective communication than *merely* putting that into a standard, no matter how small the document or how easy it is to find. And my concern is *solely* the communication, not how that number came to be whatever number it is.
The number of professionals *in-specialty* who have disagreed on, or misunderstood, ratings - just in the conversations here in the last 30 days - is my evidence that that's necessary; I have specifically in mind the
Trim Chains megathread.