ISO Focus
The Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization
Volume 3, No. 11, November 2006, ISSN 1729-8709
Building on solid
ground
•
Caterpillar’s CEO : “ ISO standards are very
valuable for promoting global requirements ”
•
ISO 29th General Assembly
Contents
1
Comment Dennis Eckstine, Chair of ISO/TC 214, Elevating
work platforms, Using engineering talent intelligently
2
World Scene
Highlights of events from around the world
3
ISO Scene
Highlights of news and developments from ISO members
4
Jim Owens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of Caterpillar Inc.
ISO Focus is published 11 times
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ISSN 1729-8709
Printed in Switzerland
Cover photo : ISO.
ISO Focus November 2006
Guest View
7
Main Focus
Building
on solid ground
• Easy to operate : Earth-moving
machinery
• Creating concrete standards for
mobile construction
machinery
• Putting machine safety in a
global perspective
• Designing safe mobile
machines
• Safety pays – Graphical
symbols for elevating work
platforms
• A new ring for warning alarms – Reducing noise while saving
lives
• Raising safety and efficiency in the tower crane industry
• A common language for a common understanding
• Tractor testing – A new era of ISO/OECD cooperation
31 ISO 29 th General Assembly
46 Developments and Initiatives
Auditing and certification of supply chain security management
systems • ISO management system standards deliver results
48 New on the shelf
The next chart-topping CD – The IT Security Standards
Collection • New handbook on piston rings and pins
49 Coming up
© ISO
Comment
Using engineering talent
intelligently
N
ational standards institutes do
a good job of developing local
technical and safety standards
for their countries. However, while
national standards may be beneficial
locally, they do not serve the needs
of international markets. Often, such
standards only create greater differences between the requirements of
one country and another. In effect,
they can be technical barriers to
global trade.
For example, if you have to
design, develop and manufacture
product variations in order to serve the
markets of the world, there is added
cost for each variation. Product engineers must design and test each special requirement that deviates from
the basic product. Then these options
must be integrated into the manufacturing process to yield products for
each country or regional market.
In addition, packaging, documentation, and all instruction manuals
must reflect any product variations
and requirements for each market – a
highly uneconomic use of an organization’s engineering talent.
Such economic inefficiencies
are compounded throughout the
supply chain. The manufacturing
process is driven by a sales forecast
on which is based a pipeline of component parts necessary to assemble
not only the basic product but also
those with special options.
In turn, inventory costs of components and finished products increase
because they can only be sold in specific markets. And since the quantities required for special options are
lower than for the base product, the
cost, once again, will be higher. Ultimately, merging all component varia-
tions into a just-in-time manufacturing
operation takes skilled management
and highly trained personnel.
For customers looking across
national boundaries at equipment
specifications for global projects,
individual country requirements can
present a really confusing picture.
They might well ask ; “ do we need
a different construction product for
each country even though the project
is the same, and what constitutes
a safe product if the local requirements differ ? ”
“ To create a truly
global standard, it is
essential that any further
development is focused
on the ISO standard.”
committee. This will be comprised
of experts representing countries
with national standards covering the
market sector in question. The result
of consensus will be an international
standard that specifies the requirements of a global product.
However, harmonization is not
accomplished until the major countries adopt the new standard. At that
point, continuing development of the
equivalent national standard becomes
counter productive to the adoption
of an ISO standard. If the goal of
creating a truly global standard is to
be accomplished, it is essential that
any further development is focused
on the ISO standard.
Imagine a developing country where new construction products are being imported from all over
the world. Without an international
ISO standard in place, how does one
choose between the different national standards to establish a set of local
requirements ? And what defines a
safe product ?
This problem can only be
addressed through ISO via the creation of a harmonized and truly International Standard. Experts must work
together to resolve the issues, mindful of any regulatory requirements
in the countries they represent. Only
then can the resulting International
Standard be accepted at the country
level, too.
Dennis Eckstine
Chair of ISO/TC 214, Elevating work
platforms
The first step in producing a
harmonized standard for international
use is the creation of an ISO technical
ISO Focus November 2006
1
World Scene
In the context of an uncertain
progress towards the conclusion
of the Doha Round of trade
negotiations of the World
Trade Organization (WTO),
the organization held its 2006
Public Forum in Geneva in
September to interact with its
stakeholders and to discuss
the shaping of WTO to
respond to the global
challenges of the 21st century.
UN/ECE workshop on International
Standards in the multilateral trade
system.
Many of the debated issues
were directly of interest for
standardization and conformity
assessment, such as : coherence
and capacity building for trade,
neo-protectionism, global trade
in relation to sustainable development and social responsibility, regional trade agreements
as a possible threat for WTO,
and operationalizing aid for
trade or equitable commerce.
ISO took part in several breakout sessions, amongst them a
workshop organized by the
United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UN/
ECE) on International Standards
in the multilateral trade system,
introduced by its Executive
Secretary, Marek Bella. An
update was given on the implementation of the “ international
model for technical harmonization ” developed by UN/ECE,
with an illustration in the area
of telecommunications.
Alan Bryden, ISO SecretaryGeneral, underlined how the
ISO System had recently
expanded its scope, from technology to services and good
business practices, its production
of International Standards and
its support to the participation
2
ISO Focus November 2006
of developing countries, to
respond to the expectations
placed on International Standards
to facilitate not only global
trade, but also the globalization
of many other issues, such as
health, climate change, health
or security.
For more information, see :
www.wto.org
For more information, see :
www.norexport.org
or contact :
infonorexport @icontec.org.co
International gathering
on education
Sharing knowledge and experiences in standardization education is the aim of an international gathering to be held
in Delft, The Netherlands, on
7-9 February 2007. This is an
initiative of the ‘ International
Committee for Education
about Standardization ’ (ICES),
formed February 2006 after a
successful first international
meeting in Tokyo, Japan.
Enhancing competitiveness
through standardization
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is supporting
the competitiveness of beneficiary small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) through
their participation in regional,
national and sector standardization processes in order to
facilitate the exchange of goods
and services and the integration
process in a regional, hemispheric and global context.
Four subregional programmes
in Latin America and the Caribbean are under implementation.
In the Andean region, the IDB
and ICONTEC International
(ISO’s member body in Colombia) have been working together
for the last two years in support
of NOREXPORT, the four-year
project that reaches five countries in the Andean Community
of Nations (Colombia, Venezuela,
Perú, Ecuador and Bolivia).
The objective is to bring
together SMEs through standardization processes in order
to encourage their participation
in cross-border trade, gain access
to international markets and
improve their competitiveness.
With its goal to reach 5 000
SMEs in the five countries, the
project is made up of four
main components to be developed through the four-year
period: raising awareness in
the public and private sectors ;
developing technical standards ; training ; and regional
dissemination.
NOREXPORT
representatives for
Colombia,
Venezuela,
Perú,
Ecuador
and Bolivia.
The interactive programme
will address the need for
standards, the prospective
audiences (who should be
educated and which learning
objectives should be met), the
content (with a focus on
issues to be addressed in a
basic cross-academic course),
and available education tools
(e.g. Internet modules, books,
presentations, videos). The
first two themes concern
standardization education in
general, whereas the second
two themes cover academic
teaching.
© P. Krieger, 2006
WTO Public Forum 2006
The library in the British Museum
in London, United Kingdom.
The 2007 gathering is intended for academics, company
representatives and others
interested in standardization
education.
For more information, see :
www.euras.org.
100 years of the IEC
Germany’s Minister for Economics and Technology,
Michael Glos, emphasized the
importance of IEC standards to
the German economy in a keynote speech in Berlin’s
Konzerthaus on 27 September
2006, as the German National
Committee of the IEC put on a
special event to celebrate the
IEC centenary.
With five large screens projecting a fascinating panoply of
images, and a performance by
a dance troupe, the entertainment
led the audience through a
century of technological development, ending with how the
future may look : intelligent
homes with interactive appliances and students from different
countries around the world
participating in real time via
the Internet in a collective
project.
Also speaking at the event was
Klaus Wucherer, Executive Vice
President of Siemens and President of the German National
Committee of the IEC, who discussed the importance of having
an open system for standards
setting and the shift from product
to system standards as technology becomes more integrated
and interoperable.
IEC President Renzo Tani gave
a speech covering the German
National Committee’s commitment to IEC work and went on to
praise the contribution made by
former IEC officers, mentioning
how they had chosen “ to give
their time, their vision and their
leadership to our organization.”
The Director-General of the
WTO, Pascal Lamy, was the
guest of honour of the IEC
centennial event held in Berlin
on 29 September 2006, which
also featured a congratulatory
letter to the IEC from UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
For more information, see :
www.iec.ch
ISO Scene
Cooperation in the field
of terminology
The recently concluded meeting
of technical committee ISO/
TC 37, Terminology and other
language and content resources,
brought together 120 delegates
in Beijing, China.
The committee is one of the socalled horizontal committees
providing standards that serve as
basic guidelines for all standards
committees. Among other goals,
its standards set rules for the
standardization of terminology –
a key factor for the work of all
other committees, from “fasteners” to “nanotechnology”.
Participating stakeholders will
discuss related infrastructure
challenges, aspects concerning
on-road and off-road vehicle
use of these fuels, and highlight
the linkage of these standards
to current and emerging regulatory needs.
Targeted attendees include :
decision-makers from multinational automotive, energy, infrastructure and related companies,
as well as relevant government
representatives and international governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
For more information, see :
www.iso.org/iso/en/
commcentre/events/2006/
roundtable
Appointment with
dentistry
The strategic impact of the
committee’s standards is also
demonstrated with the Database
project (see ISO Focus March
2006). In the development of
standards from linear paperbased documents towards databases, ISO/TC 37 experts contribute actively – from the
development of business models
to the design of appropriate
data models.
Following the meeting week was
the 3rd International Conference
on Terminology, Standardization
and Technology Transfer (www.
tstt2006.org), which also attracted a number of participants representing international business
and industry associations.
For more information, see :
www.iso.org/tc37 or
www.infoterm.info
Some 185 delegates from 21
countries attended the meetings
of ISO technical committee
ISO/TC 106, Dentistry, in Beijing,
China, in September 2006. In
addition to the plenary meeting
of ISO/TC 106, a total of seven
subcommittees met plus 42
working groups and three ad
hoc committees.
The dentistry committee places
great emphasis on a number of
issues, such as the clinical relevance of test specimens, the use
of simulated clinical test conditions, consideration of the technique sensitivity of certain
materials, criteria for performance thresholds and the survivability of restorative materials.
Consideration will be given to
global relevance and environmental issues in dental standards.
nology and dental codes, dental
instruments, dental equipment,
oral care products, dental
implants and the biological
evaluation of dental materials.
The dentistry committee has a
close working relationship with
the European Committee for
Standardization, the World
Health Organization and the
World Dental Federation.
For more information, contact :
dwjones@dal.ca
Information and
communication
technologies in Cuba
After two days of intensive
training at the ISO Central Secretariat in September, two
experts provided by UNIT, the
ISO member for Uruguay,
delivered three days of training
in standardization and the use
of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in
Havana, Cuba.
The ICT programme consists of
the provision of hardware, software and training to strengthen
the computer infrastructure of
ISO members in developing
countries. The programme is an
important element of the ISO
Action Plan for developing
countries and aims at expanding electronic communication
and expertise in IT tools for
ISO members to participate
more fully in the standards
The committee worked on the
development and revision of
some 45 standards involving
filling and restorative materials,
prosthodontics materials, termiParticipants of the ICT
training in Havana,
Cuba.
Harmonizing for gaseous
fuels and vehicles
ISO will hold a roundtable on
10 January 2007 in Geneva,
Switzerland, to address issues
concerning global harmonization of standards for natural gas
and hydrogen fuels.
From left – Prof.
Martin Tyas, Australia,
Prof. Xu of China and
Prof. Derek Jones,
Chair of ISO/TC 106.
development and dissemination
processes.
The implementation of the ICT
programme in Cuba was funded
by the Standards Council of
Canada (SCC). The next
programme is scheduled to
be held in Perú in December
2006.
For more information, contact :
dev-t@iso.org
Progress in plastics
Over 270 delegates from 19
countries came together in
Yokohama, Japan, in September
2006 for the 55th meeting of
ISO technical committee ISO/
TC 61, Plastics.
The latest edition of the committee’s vocabulary, which is in
the form of a database, was presented. The database format
allows it to be updated with
Yokohama Bay
© Tomoyuki Emura, Secretary of ISO/TC 61/SC 11
approved terms at any time and
to accommodate a large number
of languages (currently planned
are English,
French, German
and Japanese).
Such features will
make it easier to
manage and to consult than a “ paper ”
vocabulary.
There is an ongoing requirement
for training during
the meeting week. For almost
20 years, this has taken the
form of early-morning training
sessions (three nominally identical sessions given on separate
mornings to groups of 20 to 25
delegates). A proposal was
made at this year’s meeting to
run, in addition, special classes
for first-time working group
convenors.
ISO Focus November 2006
3
Guest View
Jim Owens
About Caterpillar :
© Caterpillar
For more than 80 years,
Caterpillar Inc. has been
making progress possible and
driving positive and
sustainable change on every
continent. With 2005 sales and
revenues of USD 36.339
billion, Caterpillar is the
world’s leading manufacturer
of construction and mining
equipment, diesel and natural
gas engines and industrial gas
turbines.
More information is available
at http://www.CAT.com/.
J
im Owens is Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
of Caterpillar Inc. After joining
the company in 1972 as a corporate
economist, he has held numerous
management positions.
In 1995, Mr. Owens was named
a group president and member of
Caterpillar’s Executive Office.
Over the next eight years as a group
president, Mr. Owens was at various
times responsible for 13 of the
company’s 25 divisions. In December
2003, the Caterpillar Board
of Directors named Mr. Owens Vice
Chairman and appointed him
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
effective 1 February 2004.
4
ISO Focus November 2006
Mr. Owens, a native of Elizabeth City,
North Carolina, graduated from North
Carolina State University in 1973
with a PhD in economics.
He is a director of Alcoa Inc. in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and IBM
Corporation in Armonk, New York.
Mr. Owens is a Director of the
Institute for International Economics ;
Chairman of the International Trade
and Investment Task Force of The
Business Roundtable ; and a member
of The Business Council and
Manufacturing Council in Washington,
DC. He is a Director of the Council
on Foreign Relations and a member
of the Global Advisory Council to
The Conference Board in New York.
ISO Focus : When presenting the company’s new enterprise strategy and
goals, which are focused on delivering
Caterpillar’s Vision 2020, you said
that one of the things that will take
Caterpillar to the next level is the company’s leadership in technology and
innovation. Can you expand this?
Jim Owens : Caterpillar’s heritage of
innovation started more than 100 years
ago when Benjamin Holt, one of our
founders, was the first person to
successfully test a track-type tractor. The
track-type tractor remains our flagship
product, and a dedication to innovation
has remained part of the corporate DNA
at Caterpillar. There are many recent
ments in each country. Thus, the ISO
standards are very valuable for promoting global requirements to minimize the time and costs of developing and testing new products. Caterpillar supports the ISO goal of one
standard, one test accepted globally.
This approach offers a level field of
competition across the world, so that
companies can compete based on the
value they can offer customers no matter where in the world those customers may live and do business.
© Caterpillar
examples of technology development
that I could talk about that demonstrate
our leadership, and how technology will
help Team Caterpillar achieve our Vision
2020 goals, but I think the best example
may be ACERT® Technology. ACERT
is a differentiated emissions reduction
technology that is dramatically reducing emissions levels for our on-highway
engines and for our off-road machines.
Developed by a team of dedicated Caterpillar researchers and scientists, ACERT
is giving our customers the performance
“ Caterpillar supports the
ISO goal of one standard,
one test accepted globally.”
they have come to expect from Caterpillar while also meeting ever-stringent
emissions requirements. Because Caterpillar chooses a different path with
ACERT, it allows us to command a premium for a product that is better than
customers can find anywhere else in the
market. It’s the perfect example of an
innovation that helps Caterpillar and its
shareholders, helps our customers and
is good for the environment.
© Caterpillar
© Caterpillar
UNFCCC
headquarters,
Bonn (Germany).
Easy to operate : earth-moving machines.
ISO Focus : What is the role of standards for the successful support of innovation ? How does Caterpillar promote
the use of International Standards to
anticipate and conquer new markets
for its products and services ?
Jim Owens : Standards help establish
acceptance criteria and test methods
for the introduction of new technology. Particularly in the safety area, international standards provide performance criteria that can be used as a baseline for adopting new innovations and
technology.
Caterpillar is actively leading
the development of ISO standards for
our products. We are also promoting
the adoption of the ISO standards as
the national standards for our products,
as well as the use of the ISO standards
as the basis for the technical content in
national and regional regulations.
It is not economical to develop products to meet different require-
Top – Large machines used in mines and
quarries.
Above – Medium-size machines for earthmoving and construction projects.
ISO Focus : Caterpillar was among
the companies chosen for the 2005
Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the
company’s ability to combine sustainability with profitability. What is, in
your view, the business case for investing in socially responsible actions that
may not be immediately beneficial to
productivity or the bottom line or economic success in a competitive market ? What added value would you see
in the International Standard giving
guidelines on social responsibility being
developed by ISO ? (cf. ISO 26000)
ISO Focus November 2006
5
Guest View
ISO Focus : What is Caterpillar doing
to support sustainable development in
the construction sector ? How do ISO
standards help the company achieve
this goal ?
Jim Owens : Caterpillar views support
of sustainable development as a significant growth opportunity for our
company. The reality is that as the global population grows and the limits of
our natural resources become increasingly apparent, the need for Caterpillar products and services as enablers
of sustainable development is even
© Caterpillar
ISO Focus November 2006
• Harmonized standards minimize
the number of product configurations that must be designed.
• Harmonized standards reduce
product development costs, if the
same basic machine configuration
can be sold around the world.
• Wi t h h a r m o n i z e d s t a n d a r d s ,
machines can be shipped from production facilities in different parts
of the world to balance production
versus demand.
© Caterpillar
Jim Owens : We’ve set bold safety
goals. Our Code of Conduct emphasizes the responsibility for leaders to
put a process in place for a safe workplace – and for all of us to look out for
others and ourselves. Expectations of
leaders are high, as they should be. All
managers, supervisors, and team leaders must complete safety training, set
actionable safety goals, develop com-
© Caterpillar
ISO Focus : On-the-job safety can
impact a company’s bottom line. What
strategies does Caterpillar implement
in order to ensure the health and safety
of its workers ? Concerning the safety
of operators using your equipment,
how do ISO standards help improve
machine safety ?
“ It is not economical to
develop products to meet
different requirements in
each country.”
6
ISO Focus : What are the benefits of
harmonized standards for a multinational company like Caterpillar with
R&D, manufacturing and assembly
sites all over the world ? What support
is the company taking to ensure this
harmonization happens ?
Jim Owens : Caterpillar actively supports policies and standards that help
ensure the smooth introduction of cleaner, more efficient products and technologies to the marketplace. Our involvement with ISO to develop global standards for earthmoving equipment is one
example. ISO guidelines on social
responsibility would go beyond the
product to help harmonize stakeholder
expectations of companies who operate globally, and would support companies like Caterpillar whose commitment to honesty, ethical behaviour and
sustainability is longstanding and strong.
Therefore, we are pleased to have a representative who is participating in the
development of ISO 26000.
Track-type tractors : Caterpillar’s first machines.
more important. As we successfully
meet this need, sustainable development will serve to drive our growth.
By offering customers products, services and solutions that help them become
more sustainable in their industries,
we differentiate ourselves from competitors and achieve our marketleadership goals. One recent example
of how this works is our sale of sixty
methane-gas-powered Cat generator
sets to produce 120 megawatts of
power at China’s Sihe Coal Mine. By
capturing methane gas and converting
it into electricity, the Cat generator
sets will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the
capacity of the local power grid. The
project will help improve environmental and economic conditions, and
mine safety.
mon and clear expectations, and are
held accountable to a scorecard that
gauges their involvement in a variety
of safety-related activities.
Above – Small machines offer
versatility.
Left – Articulated truck and
excavator.
Main Focus
Easy to operate :
Earth-moving
machinery
by Dan Roley, Chair of ISO/TC
127, Earth-moving machinery,
and of ISO/TC 127/SC 2, Safety
requirements and human factors,
and Standards Manager for
Caterpillar, Corporate Standards
and Regulations Department, USA
E
© ISO
Building on
solid ground
© ISO
arth-moving machines are used
for excavating, loading, transporting, spreading, and compacting
earth and other materials – see examples
of earth-moving machines. They range
in size from small machines that can
drive through doorways to very large
machines that can be worth several
million USD.
Operating an earth-moving
machine is similar to driving a car
or truck, except the operator must
ISO Focus November 2006
7
Main Focus
also control the machine attachment
or work tool that moves the earth or
other material. The operator stations on
earth-moving machines are designed to
comply with the ISO/TC 127/SC 2 safety
and ergonomics standards to provide a
working environment for the operator
that is safe and comfortable, with
controls that are easy to operate.
“ ISO standards have
reduced the cost and
complexity of developing
and proving compliance
with the safety standards.”
By the 1960s the earth-moving
machinery industry was already a global
industry, with machines from the USA,
Europe and Asia being sold into earthmoving applications around the world.
Several countries were beginning to
develop standards and regulations for
earth-moving machines, which created
a challenge for the industry to be able
About the author
Dan Roley,
Chair of ISO/
TC 127 and of
TC 127/SC 2, is
the Standards
Manager for
Caterpillar in the
corporate Standards and Regulations Department.
His first research
projects at Caterpillar were in the ergonomics and whole body vibrations areas,
where he developed ergonomic guidelines
for earth-moving machines and provided
input for the ISO/TC 127 standards for
ergonomics and seat vibrations.
Dr. Roley worked at the INRS Vibration
Laboratory in France as a participant in
the USA-France Exchange of Scientists
Program, following which he worked as
the Project Leader for the test and development of new machines used for earthmoving, agriculture and forestry. He then
worked at the Caterpillar European office
in Geneva, Switzerland, as the International
Research Manager, before moving to the
Standards and Regulations Department.
8
ISO Focus November 2006
to meet the different requirements in
different countries.
To address the challenge of
having to comply with the different
requirements around the world, ISO
technical committee ISO/TC 127 was
formed in 1968 to develop International
Standards for earth-moving machinery.
The objective was to develop a complete
set of ISO standards that could be used
as the basis for any national standards
and regulations.
Since 1968, over 125 ISO/TC 127
standards have been published to address
the commercial needs for earth-moving
machines and the safety and ergonomics
areas for earth-moving machines.
Thirty-five new standard projects are
currently underway to address smaller,
larger and new types of machines and
the application of new technologies.
Addressing safety
and human factors
One common objective of both
the earth-moving machinery industry
and the users of earth-moving machines
is to provide a safe and comfortable
work place for the workers who operate
the machines. This common objective
has enabled health and safety experts
from industry, relevant organizations
and independent test laboratories to
efficiently work together in ISO/TC
127/SC 2 to develop 46 standards that
address the safety and human factors
areas of earth-moving machines.
Representatives from 20 participating
member countries take part in ISO/TC
127/SC 2. The combined input from
all participants has been compiled into
standards that cover safety areas such
as the following :
Access systems, operator
dimensions and space requirements,
operator protection systems, braking,
visibility and mirrors, steering, controls,
seats and seat belts, vibration, sound,
safety signs, electrical and electronic
systems, warning alarms, operator
environment, lighting, guarding,
operator instructions, and visual
displays.
ISO standards
adopted and referenced
worldwide
Most of the ISO/TC 127/SC 2
safety and ergonomics standards have
been adopted as national safety and
ergonomics standards by the USA,
Japan and Europe. We are actively
promoting the adoption of the ISO/
TC 127 standards as the national
standards for China, India, Russia, and
other countries. With the adoption of the
ISO standards as national standards,
the cost and complexity of developing
and proving compliance with the safety
standards has been reduced and the
overall level of safety and comfort for
the earth-moving machinery industry
has been improved.
“ With ISO standards,
the overall level of safety
and comfort for the
earth-moving machinery
industry has been
improved.”
The ISO operator protection
standards are the best examples of
the ISO/TC 127/SC 2 safety standards
that have improved operator safety
and that have significantly reduced the
costs to market of machines globally.
Industry performed extensive testing
and simulations of machine rollovers
and intrusions into the operator space to
develop performance criteria for operator
protections systems. These criteria were
incorporated into ISO standards for
rollover protection structures (ISO 3471),
falling object protection structures (ISO
3449) and operator protection guards
(ISO 10262).
The ISO/TC 127/SC 2 operator
protection standards have been accepted
by all countries, which allow one
design to be used around the world.
Since operator protection structures are
complex to design and require costly
destructive testing to show compliance
with the standards, the internationally
accepted standards enable significant
cost savings for both industry and
customers.
Building on
solid ground
Several other ISO/TC 127/SC 2
standards have provided similar results
in improving safety and providing
performance criteria for effectively
addressing safety areas. Four good
examples of other ISO standards that
are internationally accepted and that
enable significant cost savings
are the standards for steering
(ISO 5010), electromagnetic
compatibility (ISO 13766),
visibility (ISO 5006) and
braking (ISO 3450).
The incident history
for earth-moving machines
shows that the ISO/TC
127/SC 2 standards define
safety performance criteria that
are effective. This information is
also used to define areas where the
safety and ergonomics standards can
be improved.
While ISO/TC 127/SC 2 has developed
46 standards in its attempt to develop a
complete set of safety and ergonomics
standards, the work in SC 2 is continuing
to address new types of machines and
the new technology. SC 2 has 18 active
projects to update the existing standards
and to develop new standards. Some
examples of new projects include
standards for: electronic control
systems, hazard detection systems,
remote control of machines and whole
body vibrations.
Some examples of standard
update projects include : steering to
cover electronic steering, controls
standard to cover new types of multifunction controls, excavator operator
protection standard to cover larger
excavators, EMC standard with more
stringent immunity requirements, and
roll-over protections standard to cover
nonmetallic components.
Figure 3 – Trailer-mounted
concrete pump.
Creating concrete
standards
for mobile
construction
machinery
by Prof. Eugeniusz Budny,
Chair of ISO/TC 195, Building
construction machinery and
equipment
T
he standardization work of ISO/
TC 195, Building construction
machinery and equipment encompasses a very diverse range of subjects
that include equipment for pile driving, extracting, concreting, aggregate
processing, finishing and maintenance,
and also portable hand-held tools with
electric or combustion engine drive,
pedestrian controlled compaction
machines, personal and material hoists,
scaffolds, and specialist machinery for
road building, tunnelling or trenchless
technology (see About ISO/TC 195).
Most fall into the category of
mobile construction machinery, but
before reviewing this vital industry
sector, a glimpse at its development.
A leap forward –
From manual to automatic
When William Smith Otis built
the first single-bucket excavator in 1836
– replacing the work of 80 human diggers – it changed the face of the construction industry forever (Figure 1).
His “American Steam Excavator ”, also
called the “Yankee Geologist”, was
originally used in the construction of
the Baltimore-Ohio railroad. Otis’s
excavator may be considered one of the
first mobile construction machines.
In 1874, Aveling & Poter developed the first steam-driven wheeled
crane in the UK, followed by the first
electrically driven railway excavator
built by the Osgood Company in the
USA in 1890.
Figure 1 – Patent drawing of the first
excavator, signed by W.S. Otis in February
1839.
ISO Focus November 2006
9
Main Focus
The combustion engine heralded
the next leap forward in mobile construction machines, led by Nicolaus
August Otto’s four-stroke spark-ignition combustion engine in 1861 and
Rudolf Diesel’s compression-ignition
engine in 1897. Travelling tower cranes
followed around 1900 with crawler
cranes, concrete mixers (Figure 2) and
bitumen boilers mounted on automotive chassis appearing at the end of the
First World War.
Massive rebuilding after the ravages of World War II spurred the dramatic development of the whole field
of construction machinery and equipment. At the same time, increasing
reliability and transportability, aided
by hydraulic and pneumatic drives and
control systems incorporating electronics, boosted the industry.
whose position is fixed by anchoring
or deadweight.
Each mobile machine consists
of two basic units : a truck- or trailerwheeled chassis, track chassis or tractor,
and a working device. Typical examples are truck concrete mixers, pumps
(Figure 3 – top of page 9, and Figure
4), tracked asphalt pavers (Figure 5),
and the screed unit in asphalt pavers
towed by a tractor.
Figure 4 – Truck mixer with concrete pump
and distributing boom.
How are they used ?
Mobile machines are used in
most building construction works such
as earth-moving, lifting and mounting
elements, and laying concrete. Depending on the mode of locomotion, they
can be divided into three types :
• self-propelled (on wheels, crawlers
or legs) ;
• truck mounted ;
• towed on wheels.
The choice is determined by
economic and technical considerations. For example, where frequency
of relocation and cost of the driving
system are concerned, then a self-propelled machine is likely to be chosen.
Figure 2 – Truckmounted concrete mixer designed
by Stephan Stepanias in the USA in 1914.
In the last 25 years, the introduction of computer technology and
improved energy-efficient load-sensing hydraulic systems, as well as
achievements in materials engineering have driven impressive advances
in machine design.
Defining the mobile
construction machine
A simplified definition of a
mobile construction machine is one
capable of being relocated on its own
wheeled, track or leg type chassis. The
description “ mobile ” distinguishes
machines adapted to frequent relocation from stationary machines designed
for long-term service on one site, set
up on the ground or a foundation, and
10
ISO Focus November 2006
Figure 5 – Tracked asphalt paver.
Building on
solid ground
A machine which does not change
its working location – e.g. a concrete
mixer or plastering unit – and stays
on site longer than a month is usually
designed to be towed. Those designed
to travel on public roads are equipped
with braking systems and lights.
Important technical considerations include the terrain over which the
machine moves – i.e. is it paved or soft
– the characteristics of the transported
materials, the power of the towing
tractors and the distances over which
the machine is to be relocated.
used for crushing stones and concrete
debris are offered as self-propelled
crawler-, truck- or semi-trailer-mounted
machines.
Modern self-propelled machines
are usually equipped with a single
hydraulic drive unit powering all the
other units, i.e. wheels, outriggers,
steering system and attachments, with
energy-efficient state-of-the art loadsensing systems to ensure precise
control. They offer higher reliability
and lower operating costs than other
types of hydraulic control systems.
The committee’s
achievements
Much has been achieved by
ISO/TC 195 since it was established
in 1989. However its first task was to
develop the classifications and general
terminology for the many groups of
machines and equipment within its
scope. To do so, the committee produced
two fundamental documents :
• ISO/TR 12603:1996, Building construction machinery and equipment
– Classification
• ISO 11375:1998, Building construction machinery and equipment
– Terms and definitions
We then began developing
standards for the specific groups of
machines and equipment, covering
mainly terminology and commercial
specifications, the aim being to facilitate mutual understanding between
machinery manufacturers, dealers and
About the author
“ When William
Smith Otis built the first
single-bucket excavator
in 1836, it changed
the face of the construction
industry forever.”
Machine manufacturers offer
many options with regard to price and
ease of relocation to a new work site. For
example, concrete pumps can be offered
as truck mounted, single- or double-axle
mounted and skid mounted. The latter
are mainly used on building sites where
unusually large quantities of concrete are
continuously delivered. Trailer-mounted
machines are now being replaced by
more economical truck-mounted units.
Intensively developed mobile crushers
Figure 6 – Road milling machine.
Examples include :
• Track-mounted machines, often
incorporating a hydromechanical
travel drive comprising a hydrokinetic
torque converter, a gearbox with
multiple-disk clutches, a steering
mechanism with brakes and clutches,
and side gears.
• Machines such as loaders, in which
the travel drive is transmitted from
the diesel engine by means of a
hydrodynamic coupling via the gearbox, the rear axle and two planetary
gears in the rear wheels.
Eugeniusz
Budny is a
Professor of
Mechanical
Engineering and
Managing Director of the Institute
of Mechanised
Construction and
Rock Mining
(IMBiGS) in
Warsaw. He began his career as an automotive industry product designer and then
moved to the construction equipment
manufacturing industry, specializing in the
design of single-bucket excavators,
hydraulic drives and hydraulic engineering
machine controls. Since 1977 he has been
engaged in the mechanization of construction
work.
Professor Budny served as President of
the International Association for Automation
and Robotics in Construction (IAARC),
and has been Chair of ISO/TC 195 and the
Polish Committee for Standardization in
the field of building construction machinery
since 2005.
ISO Focus November 2006
11
About ISO/TC 195
users, and form the basis for further
standardization work.
At present, standards for safety
and methods of testing machines still
constitute little more than 20 % of the
committee’s work and concern mainly
smaller machines such as internal and
external concrete vibrators, portable
hand-held cutting-off machines for building materials, and concrete mixers.
ISO/TC 195 has published 16
standards and one technical report to
date, mostly concerning machinery for
road construction and maintenance,
and concrete works.
“ The standards we
have developed serve to
enhance knowledge about
the current state
of technology in road
building machinery.”
The road building
challenge
Road building and maintenance
is a major challenge, particularly for
developing countries. Standardization
of the necessary construction equipment
has high priority and is a subject of great
interest to ISO/TC 195. The standards we
have developed serve to enhance knowledge about the current state of technology
in road building machinery.
ISO 22242:2005, Road construction
and road maintenance machinery and
equipment – Basic types – Identification
and description, is the basic standard
covering the sector. Although it does not
include machines used in other fields
such as earth-moving, concreting, agriculture and forestry, the standard encompasses a total of 65 types of machine,
divided into 10 subgroups.
In addition, a further seven
standards for basic road construction
machines such as asphalt mixing plants,
bituminous binder spreaders/sprayers,
chippings spreaders, soil stabilizers,
powder binder spreaders, slipform pavers
and road milling machinery have been
developed by the committee. Work on
ISO/DIS 15878, Road construction
12
ISO Focus November 2006
ISO/TC 195, Building construction machinery and equipment
was established in 1989 following a proposal by the Polish Committee
for Standardization (PKN). PKN, entrusted with running the secretariat,
delegated the task to the Institute of Mechanised Construction and Rock
Mining (IMBiGS) in Warsaw, which is why the seat of the secretariat is
now at the Institute.
The Chair, Secretary and several Polish experts on the committee are employees of the Institute. Prior to endorsing final documents,
the test methods proposed in draft standards are experimentally verified
by IMBiGS. Currently ISO/TC 195 has 14 participant members and 16
observer members.
Its scope encompasses standardization of machines and equipment
used on construction sites, with the exception of cranes (ISO/TC 96),
earth-moving machinery (ISO/TC 127) and elevating work
platforms (ISO/TC 214).
The committee comprises :
• Subcommittee SC1, Machinery and equipment for
concrete work, and
• Four working groups :
- WG 5, Road construction and maintenance equipment,
- WG 6, Hand-held machinery and equipment,
- WG 7, Pedestrian controlled compaction equipment,
- WG 8, Equipment for aggregate processing.
© P. Krieger
Main Focus
Working groups WG 1, Classification, WG 2, Terminology and WG 3, Pile driving equipment were disbanded after completing their work. New working groups are formed in response to subjects
proposed by the participant members.
Machinery manufacturers, represented through domestic associations of manufacturers, play a dominant role in the work of the committee.
Another participant group comprises representatives of scientific research
units and standardization institutions. However, equipment dealers and
users (including construction equipment leasing companies) are not represented. Prominent among countries most actively engaged in the work
of ISO/TC 195 through their standards bodies are Japan (JISC-JCMA),
the USA (ANSI-AEM) and Germany (DIN-VDMA).
and maintenance equipment – Asphalt
pavers – Terminology and commercial
specifications, is currently at Draft
International Standard (DIS) stage.
Road construction machines can
be divided into mobile and stationary
categories, but the latter are also available in stationary-transferable versions,
which can be easily disassembled,
transported and reassembled at a new
road construction site. The stationary
group includes machines for the production and storage of road construction
materials, e.g. certain types of soil mix
plants, bituminous binders storage tanks,
bituminous emulsions and asphalt mixing
plants. All remaining machines for road
building and maintenance are mobile
types designed to be self-propelled,
truck-mounted or towed. Figures 5 and
6 illustrate working road machines.
A major task
A major task now facing the committee is the adaptation of European (EN)
construction equipment and machinery
safety standards to ISO standards. We
are working closely with CEN/TC 151,
Construction equipment and building material machines – Safety. The
resulting International Standards will
represent significant progress in unifying safety requirements to facilitate
international trade.
Another challenge is to standardize
groups of machinery which have so
far not been covered by international
standardization. This includes scaffolds
and equipment for finishing works
and installations, such as water-pipe
networks, gas grids and telephone
networks.
Building on
solid ground
Putting machine
safety in a global
perspective
by Jean Bataillé, Convenor
ISO/TC 199, Safety of machinery,
WG 1, Basic principles,
methodology, terminology
Promoting the concept
of integrated safety
When the designer of a machine
does everything in his power to ensure
that the user of the machine has nothing more to do, to work safely, than to
stay within the boundaries of the nor-
© CERN
W
mal anticipated use, then he is integrating safety into the design of this
machine.
As yet, the principle of integrated
safety is not universally applied and was
therefore hotly debated before the group
members finally agreed on the fact that
the more upstream the protective measures are applied, the more effective, safe
and even cost-effective they are.
A well-established risk
reduction strategy
ISO 12100 advocates an iterative method (involving a succession
of “ loops ”) for reducing risk at the
design stage; according to this method, the integrated protective measures
applied during each “ loop ” result from
an initial assessment of the risk, and
1) ISO/TR 12100, Safety of machinery –
Basic concepts, general principles for design
– Part 1: Basic terminology, methodology
and Part 2: Technical principles (the ISO/TR
endorsing the basic European standard linked
to European regulations: EN 292:1991).
About the author
copyright Yves Cousson / INRS
hen, in November 1995, the
technical committee of the
European Committee for
Standardization (CEN) CEN/TC 114
special group undertook to revise the
ISO technical report ISO/TR 12100 1)
within the framework of the Vienna
agreement, the members of the group
decided from the outset that the standard resulting from this revision would
be a fully-fledged International Standard, both in content and in form.
Thanks, therefore, to the participation of experts from a wide range of
horizons – whether in terms of countries or in terms of the interests they
represented – this risky undertaking
was brought to completion. After eight
years of intense activity (November
1995-November 2003), this important
core standard for the field of machine
safety saw the light of day.
The remarkable determination of
the special group, which did not hesitate to meet five times in the course of
2001 alone to deal with all the comments
returned on the DIS (draft international standard), deserves to be underlined.
The only blemish in the process was due
to a peculiarity in the implementation of
the Vienna Agreement (now corrected),
which unfortunately prevented unanimous adoption by the 23 participating
members of ISO/TC 199.
Jean Bataillé
worked for five
years as a
designer of electrical lifting
equipment, then
he was in charge
of conformity
and regulations
in France and of
exports of Black
& Decker handheld electrical tools, and
subsequently joined Peugeot Outillage
Electrique. He then became involved in
French, European and international
standardization. In 1988, he joined the
Union de Normalization de la Mécanique
(French standardization bureau for
mechanical engineering) and became
involved in CEN/TC 114, Safety of
machinery, and ISO/TC 199. Jean Bataillé
joined the Mission Normalization de
l’Institut National de Recherche et Sécurité
(French occupational health and safety
Institute) in 2001 and increased his
involvement in the standardization
of machine safety.
ISO Focus November 2006
13
Main Focus
their effect is evaluated on the basis not
only of the achieved reduction in risk,
but also of elements such as the nonintroduction of new risks, the preservation of the machine’s ability to perform its function, the preservation of
the operator’s working conditions and
those of other people involved (concept
of adequate risk reduction).
“ ISO 12100 defines
the basis on which all
International Standards
devoted to machinery
safety should be built
to meet the criterion
of worldwide relevance.”
This three-step iterative method
requires the designer to take full advantage, in turn, of inherently safe design
measures, safeguarding measures and,
finally, user information measures aimed
at providing the designer with all he
needs to know to take the protective
measures relevant to his field.
One important element of this
strategy lies in the method used to
evaluate – by answering a set of nine
questions – whether the risk reduction
objectives have been achieved.
account in the design of machines, a
description which is particularly useful in connection
conn
nn
with the initial risk
analysis,
alysis, which
w
is one of the preconditions
ions
ns to the implementation of the
three-step
ee-step method.
Finally, in Part 2, ISO 12100
Fi
Fin
describes
cribes
be a number of general principles
l ffor the implementation of each
of the three steps of the risk reduction
method (inherently safe design, safeguarding and information for use).
help to writers of Type C standards
and is in fact aimed at all social and
economic players involved in machine
safety. Considering the nature of its
provisions, the standard is also intended for those who train designers (students or engineers). In its introduction, the standard states : “ It is recommended that this standard be incorporated in training courses and manuals
to convey basic terminology and general design methods to designers ”.
The training of designers is a form of
advanced protection which cannot but
have a positive impact on both society
and the economy. Steps to that end have
already been taken in many countries
to approach those involved in further
as well as initial training.
√
A broad range of users
A careful reading of the two parts
of the standard shows that it does indeed
apply to all machines : conventional
machine tools, mobile machines, lifting machines and machines intended
for the general public.
ISO 12100 is primarily intended for designers of machines – all
machines – particularly when there are
no specific standards dealing with the
machine in question (product safety
standard or Type C standard according to the definition given in ISO/IEC
51 ; Type C standards are product standards that contain detailed specifications for particular machines or groups
of machines). It is also intended as a
A special place among
other standards
The content and scope of ISO
12100 – three-step method, description of basic hazards, general design
principles applicable to all machines
(industrial machines, mobile machines,
lifting appliances, etc.), the representativeness of the experts within the special group (representatives of machinery manufacturers and users, consumer
associations, occupational safety and
health experts, and public authorities),
the quadripartite ISO/IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)/
CEN/CENELEC (European Committee
for Electrotechnical Standardization)
representation, and the participation
of the membership of technical committee ISO/TC 199, Safety of machinery, representing all continents lend
support to the claim that ISO 12100
defines the basis on which all International Standards devoted to machinery
safety should be built, to meet the criterion of worldwide relevance.
Before describing the three-step
method, ISO 12100 defines 54 terms
ranging from “ machine ” to “ protective measures ” and from “ safety function ” to “ failure to danger ”. This terminology is intended to be the basis for
an internationally accepted glossary of
machine safety. ISO/TC 199 has created a maintenance team in charge of
collecting equivalent terms in as many
languages as possible (25 languages are
available at present) and investigating
the possibility of making such terminology available as a widely accessible database.
The standard also gives a description of basic hazards to be taken into
14
ISO Focus November 2006
© ISO
Terminology, basic
hazards and principles
for design
Building on
solid ground
Building a common
approach to reduce risks
© ISO
The increased use of machinery
is one of the key stages in the development of any country, and there is now a
wide spectrum of use from mature societies in the developed world, to those
in the emerging economies. Today,
machines are used both professionally
in key sectors such as metal and wood
working, plastics and paper, construction, agriculture and forestry, as well
as non-professionally in the home,
garden and leisure. Indeed, a growing trend is the migration of machines
intended for professional use into the
non-professional sector.
However, while the intensity and
range of use may vary from country to
country and from industry to industry,
the risks of using individual machines are
the same or at least similar. It is therefore logical to expect that it should be
possible to develop a common approach
Designing safe
mobile machines
by Alfred Sutter, Chair of ISO/
TC 199, Safety of machinery
S
afety for mobile machinery,
as for all kinds of machinery,
entails a complex interaction –
and reaction – between the individual, the machine and the work environment. Not only is this concept important for ensuring the safety and health
of employees, but it is the foundation
of the standardization process for
machine safety.
The slogan “ do it once – do it
right – do it internationally ” has in this
instance to be complemented by “ do
it right from the beginning ” – meaning that the concept of safety must be
integrated into machinery at the design
stage. It is the designer who knows his
machine best. When he does everything
in his power to ensure that the user of
the machine can work safely within the
boundaries of the normal anticipated
use of the machine, then he is integrating safety into the design.
For mobile machinery, probably more than for any other machinery,
safety relies on the skill and behavior
of the operator. The designer of the
mobile machinery must keep this in
mind. Standards can be of help. They
will give guidance on how to describe
the requirements of training and safe
handling procedures for the user. In
general, safety standards give technical solutions. But in the future, standards will have to lay down requirements for training and behaviour much
more in order to grant the safety of
machinery.
About the author
Alfred Sutter is
Chair of ISO/TC
199, Safety of
machinery, and
Convenor of
ISO/TC 199,
working group 5,
Risk Assessment.
He is also a
member of the
CEN/Safety of
machinery sector Advisory Nucleus.
Mr. Sutter worked for several years as
Director of Health and Safety for Europe
at Grace Industrial Chemicals, Inc., in
Lausanne (Switzerland), and now works in
the Health and Safety Department of the
Swiss National Insurance Fund. He participated in and led various projects for
standardization, national legislation and
concepts of safety and health at the work
place, and was a member of the Swiss
Federal Commission for Occupational
Health and Safety for 12 years.
With acknowledgment to : Paul Makin,
immediate past chair of ISO/TC 199, Safety of machinery, Chester, United Kingdom,
for his input to this article.
ISO Focus November 2006
15
Main Focus
– a common philosophy and methodology – to reduce risks arising from the
use of machinery that could be applied
anywhere in the world.
Risk perception and risk acceptance is very much a question of culture
and sociological context. A strict engineering approach to safety of machinery will not be sufficient to find global solutions. The work of the international experts is also a process for better mutual understanding and validation of risks.
Historically, national laws and
regulations dealing with the safety of
machines have developed in parallel
with the increased use of machines in
response to societies’ need to benefit
from machines without the consequential costs from the risks that they generate. Individual countries have developed their own approach to machinery
safety legislation and many of these
sometimes conflicting approaches have
been seen as barriers to a truly global
trade in machines. Manufacturers still
have to produce machines with different protective measures to gain access
to different markets.
Special benefits to
small and medium-sized
enterprises
The use of a common philosophy and methodology that can be used
for any machine and for any risk or
combination of risks will :
• allow product standards to be developed within ISO and IEC that are
based on an internationally accepted approach ;
• stimulate the development of protective devices as technology develops ;
• promote a constructive dialogue
between the developed and developing countries ;
• allow a wide range of interests such
as consumer groups and employee
representatives to take part in the
future development of the philosophy and methodology ;
16
ISO Focus November 2006
• contribute towards the development
of an international machinery market through the abolition of technical barriers to trade ;
• reduce the risks of injury at home,
work and leisure ;
• contribute towards the achievement
of equal levels of safety in the various countries for each safety aspect
dealt with in a standard ;
• facilitate relations between manufacturers, users and bodies in charge of
technical inspection and testing ;
• promote the risk-based approach to
machinery design.
“ Risk perception and
acceptance are a question
of culture and sociological
context.”
This approach, as encapsulated in ISO 12100, Safety of machinery
– Basic concepts, general principles
for design – Part 1: Basic terminology, methodology and Part 2: Technical principles gives special benefits
to small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) that may not have the resources to develop their own approach to
many sophisticated areas of technology. They can also use the standards
with the confidence that they are using
the methodology that has been developed by the world’s leading experts in
the given technology.
Need to speed up the
production process
Nearly everyone involved in the
production of safety standards agrees
that the future lies in making standards at the international level. However,
there are some fundamental issues that
national standards bodies and governments must solve. The standards developing mechanisms are improving all
the time, and I draw attention to those
areas where there seems to me the
greatest need for progress to be
made.
The first one is that to be truly
international the standards have to be
developed, accepted and implemented
without changes by all countries – and
that is not the case at the moment. To
do this, the machinery sector requires
a well-developed national standards
structure for participation at ISO and
IEC level. It also requires national organizations that are prepared to
send experts to the meetings – which
can take place almost anywhere in the
world. This means that certain developing countries, without the necessary
financial resources, find themselves
unfortunately de facto excluded from
the standards developing process, and
this shows only slow signs of changing. On the other hand, there are highly industrialized countries that are not
consequently transposing International
Standards into national standards.
Worldwide competition has
forced manufacturers to streamline their
organizations. Often reducing resources available for standardization activities to a basic minimum, a problem
that affects particularly SMEs ; large
enterprises thus have greater latitude to
implement their technology in standards. Certain interest groups are sometimes not present in the standardization process. For example, not enough
working groups have input from worker representatives or consumer groups.
The same applies broadly to SMEs,
despite some real improvement.
The declaration by the World
Trade Organization that International Standards are an essential aid to a
truly global trade was encouraging.
There is still a lot of work and goodwill needed however to build support
and use of standards in order to remove
technical barriers to trade. If we manage to resolve some of the problems
within national standards organizations, this could be a step in the right
direction. Finally, I would plead for
a further speed-up of the whole production process so that the very scarce
resources available can be used to the
best effect.
Building on
solid ground
Safety pays –
Graphical symbols
for elevating work
platforms
by Paul E. Young, Convenor
of ISO/TC 214, Elevating work
platforms, WG 1, Mobile
elevating work platforms, and
Daniel J. Moss, Secretary
of ISO/TC 214/WG 1
I
f a picture is worth a thousand words,
it is also open to a thousand interpretations. That may be desirable where
art is concerned, but when a graphical
symbol intended to convey, for example, safety-related information does not
get the right message across, then the
consequences can be serious.
Symbols are the international
method of communicating a control
function. International acceptance of
these symbols results in the ability to
change from one computer or automobile to another, and find the same
common symbols for a control function. Graphical symbols are even more
important on machinery and equipment
with complex control systems.
Reducing work hazards
Graphical symbols crop up everywhere. If people misunderstand them,
the consequences range from simple
inconvenience, to misuse, and danger
to life and limb.
Take, for instance, mobile elevating work platforms (MEWP) that
utilize electro-mechanical devices to
provide safe elevation of workers to a
working position in some cases 100
metres up. Add to this the fact that
workers on the work platform operate
in close proximity to structures which
in some cases have electrical or other
hazards that they must avoid.
ISO Focus November 2006
17
Main Focus
A mistaken movement of the
work platform at a height can be
extremely hazardous to the workers.
In addition, it is common practice for
operators to be trained on several types
of MEWP products, and to move from
one to another in the course of doing
their work. The result is that symbols must be not
only clear in their
message but also
adaptable across the
full range of different types of MEWP
products.
Other benefits of graphical symbols are the elimination or minimizing of
the requirement for
the use of the written word to describe
the control function.
The language used
limits those who can
safely operate the MEWP, and the fact
is that space on a control panel is necessarily restricted so that the controls
are in logical and close proximity to
the operator’s position.
“ Symbols are the
international method of
communicating a control
function on all types
of equipment.”
History
of ISO/TC 214
ISO technical committee
ISO/TC 214 was established in
August 1996 and currently has
17 participating and 15 observer
members.
The ISO/TC 214 scope of
work is to provide “ Standardization of terminology, ratings, general
principles, safety requirements, test
methods, maintenance and operation for mobile elevating work
platforms (MEWPs) used to raise
or elevate and position personnel
to a work position where a work
task is to be performed.”
A major benefit of the standards will be to enable global trade
with the harmonization of the
different national standards and
where national or regional standards have not yet been developed.
Global standards should provide
substantial opportunities for the
cost-effective development of elevating work platforms. Development and design costs are significant, and developing a product
for different national or regional
standards increases the cost of the
machinery for all, everywhere.
Tow point.
Rope slack.
High torque high force.
Wheels in straight position.
About the authors
Paul E. Young,
a retired aerial
industry professional engineer,
has served as
the ISO/TC 214
working group 1
convenor since
the formation of
ISO/TC 214 in
1996.
He also serves as the Chair of the US
Technical Advisory Group for ISO/
TC 214.
Daniel J. (Dan)
Moss is the
Assistant Director
– Standards &
Safety Services
with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), a
US-based international trade
association for the off-road equipment
industry. He worked in the aerial industry
for 14 years and has served as the ISO/
TC 214 working group 1 Secretary since
2000.
MEWP on level surface.
Steer.
18
ISO Focus November 2006
Building on
solid ground
ISO 7000:2004, Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Index and
synopsis, is the repository of equipment symbols. Its scope is “ to provide
a synopsis of those graphical symbols
which are placed on equipment or parts
of equipment of any kind in order to
instruct the person(s) using the equipment in operation”. The standard currently contains several thousand graphical symbols and it continues to grow
as ISO/TC 145, Graphical symbols,
SC 3, Graphical symbols for use on
equipment, approves new symbols
submitted by other ISO technical committees working on standards regarding equipment.
The concept of developing a
standard for common control and display symbols for MEWPs came from
the French delegates to ISO technical
committee ISO/TC 214, Elevating work
platforms. In April 2000, ISO/TC 214
approved a new work item proposal
for a symbols document, and subsequently the first draft of ISO 20381
was prepared. Several more comprehensive drafts have since been prepared to bring the standard to its current stage.
The technical committee is currently working with ISO/TC 145/SC 3
to register the 43 remaining symbols
for inclusion in ISO 7000. Once registration numbers are assigned, these
symbols, along with their registration
numbers, will be included in the Final
Draft International Standard (FDIS)
of ISO 20381.
Future aspirations
ISO/TC 214 is nearing release
of ISO/FDIS 20381 which, when published, will for the first time provide
graphical symbols for mobile elevating
work platforms developed by experts
from the major markets of the world.
These symbols will improve the safety, efficiency and training that can be
provided to users of mobile elevating
work platforms. Publication of the
standard is expected in 2007 and will
include 180 symbols.
© ISO
Repository of symbols
A new ring for
warning alarms –
Reducing noise
while saving lives
by Håkan Wettström, Convenor
of ISO/TC 127, Earth-moving
machinery, SC 2, Safety
requirements and human factors,
WG 7, Warning devices.
U
p till now, a traditional warning alarm when a machine is
reversing sounds the same
all over the world. The difference is
mainly the alarm sound pressure level,
which can vary from 77 to 112 decibels, depending on the machine’s own
noise and the ambient environmental
sound where the machine is operating,
measured at seven metres from the
rear and front of the machine.
All over the world, society
and people are asking for more silent
traffic, especially in town centres near
schools, hospitals and when clearing
snow during the night. One possibility
is for the machine operator to cut the
wire to the alarm, or to use a separate
switch to temporarily disable the
alarm, but this could be illegal. The
other possibility is to modify reversing alarms in order to reduce noise
and provide ample response time to
the potential hazard in an average
site situation.
More than 15 experts from
around the world are developing a
standard which will allow the conventional single tone audible warning
device, but will go one step further
by opening the door to other warning
systems, such as white sound broad
band, self-adjusting or smart alarms,
discriminating alarms, strobe lamps,
etc. The work will result in the revision of ISO 9533:1989, Earth-moving
machinery – Machine-mounted forward
and reverse audible warning alarm –
Sound test method, by ISO technical
committee ISO/TC 127, Earth-moving machinery, subcommittee SC 2,
Safety requirements and human factors, working group WG 7, Warning
devices.
ISO Focus November 2006
19
Main Focus
Audible alarm warning
of potential hazards
priate for the environment in which
the machine is working.
The new International Standard
will specify a static method for determining the performance of audible
alarms mounted on earth-moving
machines. It intends to warn personnel
of the hazards of a machine travelling
forward or in reverse, under its own
power for operation on work sites and
for travelling on public roads.
Effective warning consists of
perception and cognition of a message,
which are physiological processes to
objective stimuli (in this case audible
stimuli). This standard will address primarily objective criteria for evaluating
sound characteristics of the machine
and the audible warning system.
The intention is to lay down
criteria for determining that an alarm
is sufficiently loud without being
louder than necessary; i.e. to minimize,
as far as is reasonably practical, the risk
of causing noise nuisance which may
startle and/or cause hearing damage.
This standard does not take
into account the ambient sound levels
that may exist in the varied environments in which the machine may be
working.
Furthermore, nothing in this
standard takes away the responsibility
of the operator and/or the site manager to ensure that an alarm is appro-
Different types of alarms:
About the author
Håkan
Wettström is
Convenor of
ISO/TC 127/SC 2/
WG 7, Warning
devices. He is
Chair of the
Swedish national
standardization
body for earthmoving machinery and has also been a member of different
ISO/TC 127 working groups.
Mr. Wettström has worked for 38 years at
Volvo Construction Equipment AB in
Sweden, in the department of laws and
regulations, as a product safety specialist,
in international and national standards.
20
ISO Focus November 2006
• Back-up (reversing) alarm, a signal intended to warn personnel,
especially those in the vicinity of
a machine, that it may be moving
in a rearward direction.
• Forward warning horn, an audible
signal commanded by the operator
of the machine intended to warn
personnel near the machine, but
especially towards the front of the
machine.
• Machine-mounted reverse-visible
directional warning lamp intended
to warn personnel of the hazard of
the machine moving under its own
power.
Typical measurement setup for exterior alarm
measurement.
The alarms must fulfil physical
environmental and operation conditions, such as high/low temperature,
humidity, vibration, shock, corrosion
and electromagnetic compatibility
(EMC).
Visual lamp warning
of potential hazards
Until today, no International
Standard existed for earth-moving
machines which cover a visible directional warning lamp. The aim here is
to take the first step to harmonize the
geometric visibility, monitoring range
and requirements and installation.
We know that this type of warning
lamp systems is not allowed in some
countries, so this work will be a challenge to prepare.
This part will be integrated into
the revised ISO 9533.
This future standard will outline the procedure and set the criteria
necessary to evaluate the minimum
requirements for installation and performance requirements of the visual
warning alarm lamp(s) mounted on
earth-moving machines. It is intended
to warn personnel of the potential
hazard of the machine, moving under
its own power in reverse, and these
tests are also carried out on a stationary machine.
“ The new International
Standard warns personnel
of the hazards of
a machine travelling
forward or in reverse.”
Warning lamp
performance is a
function of the lamp
design, conditions
and placement on
the machine with
respect to machine
components. This
procedure verifies
that the combination of factors produces a special warning lamp. The
standard also contains component
tests.
The use of reverse-directional special warning lamps can be a
substitute for reverse-audible warning alarms during evening and night
hours, or when silent traffic is necessary. If national and/or local regulations so permit, they may be also a
substitute for a reverse audible warning during daytime hours.
Commands
from the control tower
A reverse directional special
warning lamp system can be either
automatic when reversing the machine
or:
• the operator can manually switch it
on and off ;
Building on
solid ground
• the operator can manually change
between a visual warning alarm light or
a reverse audible warning system.
Mounted on the rear part of
an earth-moving machine, e.g. radiator grille,
engine bonnet, rear cross member with
certain heights and angles.
Activating the system
The warning lamp system will
operate when the operator has moved
the control to select the reverse direction, or with an on/off switch in the
cab.
In the case where more then
one lamp is fitted, the requirements
of this standard are met if one or
more lamps are visible under conditions specified.
Proposed symbols for
alarm systems
Correct, internationally known
symbol(s) shall be added to the
switch.
Here, two examples are proposed, Audible alarm symbol and
Warning lamp symbol.
Raising safety
and efficiency in
the tower crane
industry
by Cosette Dussaugey,
Chair of ISO/TC 96, Cranes,
SC 7, Tower cranes
B
uilding construction is as old
as history, and the evolution of
the processes of construction
has seen the gradual replacement of
manual implements by machines and
power tools. The techniques for lifting heavy loads, for example, have
undergone dramatic change.
Leonardo da
Vinci designed the
first crane during the
second part of 15 th
century, but it was not
until the 20th century
that the concept and
mechanization of lifting machines made
its greatest leap forward.
After the First World War, the
demand for reconstruction and the evolution of high rise buildings drove the
development of tower cranes, leading
to substantial improvements in performance and widespread use.
Inherently dangerous
Audible alarm
Warning lamp
Today, the worldwide market
for tower cranes higher than 40 metres,
assembled from component parts, is
estimated at about 10 000 units, of
which approximately 50 to 60 % are
based in Europe and the remainder in
North America and Asia. Cranes lower
than 40 metres are mainly manufactured and used in China. The market
for self-erecting tower cranes is estimated at about 4 500 units, with growth
now increasingly outside Europe.
ISO Focus November 2006
21
Main Focus
Tower cranes are employed more
and more frequently on construction
sites around the world, and are now
central to the construction of buildings from houses to skyscrapers, and
major civil engineering projects such
as bridges and dams.
Impressive though they may
be, tower cranes are inherently dangerous and safety must be a major
design consideration. National crane
safety legislation began appearing in
the 1950s, and European manufacturers rapidly pooled their knowledge to
create common regulations to improve
the safety of these structures.
Addressing
the challenges
By the 1960s, ISO/TC 96,
Cranes and its subcommittee SC 7,
Tower cranes were formed to address
the challenges the industry was facing in meeting the growing number of
regulations and requirements around
the world.
About the author
Cosette
Dussaugey
started her professional career
with the Association française
de normalisation
(AFNOR) and
is currently
responsible for the
technical department of CISMA, the French construction
equipment manufacturer’s association.
She serves as Chair of ISO/TC 96/SC 7,
is a member of several other ISO and
CEN technical committees, and represents
CICMA on product safety in FEM.
22
ISO Focus November 2006
“ Impressive though they
may be, tower cranes are
inherently dangerous and
safety must be a major
design consideration.”
France, Germany, Japan, Poland,
the Russian Federation, South Africa, UK and USA were the main participant countries in ISO/TC 96/SC
7, joined more recently by China,
Malaysia and the Republic of Korea.
Committee experts are drawn from
industry, health and safety and training organizations, and users.
Its basic objective was to provide a portfolio of standards “ in the
field of cranes and related equipment
which suspend loads ”, to help manufacturers trade globally. A further
objective was to recognise the responsibility of manufacturers to provide
cranes that meet the needs of society
with respect to health, safety and the
environment – and the parallel needs
of regulators in terms of their accountability for health, safety and environmental concerns connected with lifting appliances.
The work of SC 7 is linked to
that of the other ISO/TC 96 subcommittees, and in particular SC 2, Terminology ; SC 3, Selection of wire ropes ; SC
4, Test methods ; SC 5, Use, operation
and maintenance ; and SC 10, Design
– Principles and Requirements. In sum,
the ISO/TC 96 subcommittees cover the whole field of cranes and related equipment, with SC 7 dedicated to
tower cranes.
Establishing a common
language
The first International Standards
developed established a common language and aimed to reduce the risk of
serious accident, property damage or
losses to persons involved in lifting
operations.
Terminology was established
in English, French and Russian defining tower cranes, whether “ self erecting ” or “ assembled from component
parts ”. Another standard established
the form of presentation and content
of documents provided with cranes.
More recently, graphic symbols have
been harmonized.
Design rules and specifications
for means of access, controls, cabins
and limiting devices were drafted in
close cooperation with the European
Building on
solid ground
Federation of Handling Industries
(FEM – Féderation Européenne de
la Manutention).
Raising safety
From the safety point of view,
ropes are the most sensitive components
used on tower cranes. So the subcommittee worked closely with ISO/TC
105, Steel wire ropes, on the maintenance and inspection of these items.
Thus, ISO 4309:2004, Cranes – wire
ropes – Care, maintenance, installation, examination and discard, establishes criteria relating to wire breaks,
wear, corrosion and deformation.
“ Governments can apply
regulations based on tower
crane standards developed
by ISO/TC 96, to meet the
needs of society.”
ISO/TC 96/SC 7 has also introduced recommendations for maintenance
and inspection, including the description of the appropriate tests.
Tower crane operators play a vital
role in ensuring that cranes are maintained and used safely. So when the first
set of standards was completed, SC 7
started work on recommendations for
the training of operators, drivers, slingers and signallers, and the safe use of
cranes. The next task was to ensure the
correctness of information in the driving
manual. As a result, ISO 9928-1:1990,
Cranes – Crane driving manual – Part
1: General, was published to provide
such guidelines.
Eliminating technical
barriers
The progressive introduction
of new International Standards and,
where necessary, the revision of published standards, has helped eliminate
technical barriers to trade and has had
a positive effect on general safety by
reducing potential hazards.
During the last 10 years, ISO/
TC 96/SC 7 has linked up with the
European technical committees CEN/
TC 147, Cranes – Safety, and CEN/TC
168, Chains, ropes, webbing, slings and
accessories – Safety, to further harmonize requirements, and lead, hopefully,
to common standards in future.
Today, some 50 International Standards exist that relate to tower
cranes, and these are regularly reviewed
and updated. With this body of standardization, the industry is confident
that it can adequately regulate the
appropriate health, safety and environmental requirements. A technical
report listing those standards will be
available shortly to guide industry,
consumers, trade, governments and
distributors.
The industry has matured to
the point where change in tower crane
design is more evolutionary than revolutionary. This has enabled governments to apply regulations based
on tower crane standards developed
by ISO/TC 96, to meet the needs of
society.
ISO Focus November 2006
23
Main Focus
ISO/TC 127, SC 4
A common
language for
a common
understanding
by Roberto Paoluzzi, Chair
of ISO/TC 127, Earth-moving
machinery, SC 4, Commercial
nomenclature, classification and
rating
H
aving a coherent and uniform
standards terminology is crucial
in today’s fast-changing world.
Technical committees need to avoid
having the same term mean different
things in different standards. In this
article, I intend to describe how ISO
technical committee ISO/TC 127
has addressed this problem in the
context of earth-moving machinery
(EMM) and what implications this
has for standardization terminology
as a whole.
The need for harmonizing
terminology has arisen from the
internal contradictions within existing
standards and increasingly fast-paced
market changes. The market requires
consistency in order to avoid poor
comprehension of standards and their
application, and the confusion arising
from the multiplicity of definitions,
even by the same TC, in different
standards.
ISO/TC 127 is aware that since
the rate of application of its standards
by industry is extremely high and more
than 90 percent of them are referenced
by harmonized European standards, its
projects must be grounded in a sound
terminology structure.
A peculiar request from the
association of insurance companies
asking for a more descriptive and
usable document to be quoted as a
“ reference ” by all claims involving
earth-moving machines, generally
identified in many documents with a
misleading colloquial name of “ caterpillars ” (one of the cases when a
brand name is used to indicate a full
category of machines), led to action
by the working group and will be
published using one of the new types
of documents made available by the
new ISO/IEC Directives. The speed
of technological change and need for
continuous updates has stimulated a
need for a common, internationally
recognized language in the field of
earth-moving machinery.
Originally the definition of
earth-moving machinery was not
considered a challenging task by
ISO/TC 127, since in the early 1970s
it mainly addressed one type of
machinery – the agricultural tractor,
which could be modified to different
functions in land reclamation.
Earth-moving machinery
Tractor
Loader
Dumper
Tractor
scraper
Figure 1 - Structure of ISO 6165:1978.
24
ISO Focus November 2006
Excavator
Grader
Building on
solid ground
Increasing complexity in
a fast-changing world
At first, only a limited number
of machines needed more detailed
description. The problem was that
differences between national terminology variants had grown over the years,
spurring a market need for a common
internationally recognizable language.
The existence of a market leader spurred
the decision to establish a subcommittee
whose aim was to facilitate exchange
of technical documentation and commercial information.
“Technical standardization
offers a common reference
frame for exchange of
information.”
The structure of the standards in
their first development by subcommittee SC 4, Commercial nomenclature,
classification and rating, of ISO/
TC 127 is exposed in Figure 1. This
reflected the general perception that
because only a few machines needed a
About the author
Roberto
Paoluzzi, who
holds a degree
in nuclear engineering from the
University of
Bologna, is
Chair of ISO/
TC 127, Earthmoving machinery, SC 4, Commercial nomenclature, classification and
rating. He has worked as senior researcher
at the Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines of the Italian National
Research Council (IMAMOTER-C.N.R.)
and taught hydraulics and pneumatics at
the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia since
1998. Mr. Paoluzzi is the author of more
than 180 scientific papers and technical
reports and is Deputy General Secretary
for Europe and Africa of the International
Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems
(ISTVS).
synthetic description of their function,
it was sufficient to have a generic standard describing the different parts of a
machine complemented by a series of
specific terminology and performance
rating (where needed) standards for
each machine type described in the
general standard.
This method was supposed to
ensure the common use of terms in
technical documentation, and a comparability of figures reported in catalogues.
It sounded easy.
The initial structure of the
standards developed by SC 4 reflected this straightforward approach : ISO
6165 describing the machine types
(just six of them were recognized at
the time), ISO 6746 describing the
name of parts of a tractor-derived base
machine (part 1) and its attachment
(part 2), plus six more standards on
specific terms used in the six machine
types defined.
Although this structure met the
initial needs of the sector, the speed of
technological change and the progressive diversification of EMM from their
agricultural parents exposed weak points
in this approach.
First of all, the structure of the
root standard (ISO 6165) is not detailed
enough to allow the identification of
specific machines in other standards
developed by other subcommittees.
This problem has to be solved with
continuous updating, which started
with the second edition in 1987 and
is still in progress, at an ever-increasing pace.
The second problem was the
internal consistency of terms used
in standardization within a technical
committee.
In order to respond to the
demand for highly specialized standards and stay abreast with a changing
technological environment, working
groups and subcommittees tend to
develop their own definitions, perfectly
suited for the specific purpose of a
standard, but sometimes generalized
or conflicting with already given
definitions of the same term in other
documents – this problem is much
more difficult to solve, since it must
compromise between the conflicting
needs of a special definition in “ application ” standards and of a generally
applicable unique term.
“ Having a common
language is not an option,
but a necessity.”
Example of a ground
clearance machine
A trivial example is ground
clearance by a tracked machine: in
operation, the track shoe grousers
penetrate the ground, clearing ground
from the lower part of the machine
body. The problem is that if we need
to define the same term for testing
purposes, it may be necessary to define
a testing condition in which the grouser
does not penetrate the ground, as in
the case of a concrete surface.
In the past, this problem was
simply ignored, and new definitions
had to be introduced. This resulted in
ISO Focus November 2006
25
Earth-moving machinery
Engins de terrassement
Dozer
Bouteur
(4.1)
Backhoe loader
Chargeuse-pelleteuse
(4.3)
Loader
Chargeuse
(4.2)
Swing loader
Chargeuse orientable
(4.2.1)
MSRX
Pelle à rayon
court
(4.4.1)
Trencher
Trancheuse
(4.5)
Excavator
Pelle
(4.4)
Dumper
Tombereau
(4.6)
Skid steer loader
Chargeuse à direction
par glissement
(4.2.2)
Walking
excavator
Pelle araignée
(4.4.2)
Scraper
Décapeuse
(4.7)
Cable
excavator
Pelle à câble)
(4.4.3)
Landfill compactor
Comparateur de remblais
et de déchets
(4.9)
Grader
Niveleuse
(4.8)
Roller
Compacteur
(4.10)
Towed craper
Décapeuse tractée
(4.7.1)
Rigid-frame dumper
Tombereau
à châssis rigide
(4.6.1)
Pipelayer (rigid)
Poseur de
canalisations (rigide)
(4.11)
Towed roller
Compacteur tracté
(4.10.1)
Articulated-frame dumper
Tombereau à châssis
articulé
(4.6.2)
Rotating pipelayer
Poseur de
canalisations rotatif
(4.12)
Horizontal directional drill
Appareil de forage
dirigé
(4.13)
Swing dumper
Tombereau
orientable
(4.9)
Figure 2 - Machine identification chart according to ISO 6165:2006.
Machine family
Famille de machines
(3.4)
Machine type
Type de machine
(3.5)
Individual machine (Identification number)
Machine individuelle (Numéro d’identification)
(3.6)
different standards, by the same TC,
defining the same term in different
ways. Which one is the definition to be
adopted by end-users when they apply
the full set of standards ?
A systematic approach
At the beginning of the 1990s,
ISO/TC 127/SC 4 recognized the
need for a systematic approach to the
problem, acknowledging that :
• terminology is a key issue in standardization as it impacts market
communication as well as the technical application of the standards and
standardization work in itself ;
26
ISO Focus November 2006
• the misuse of terms or different uses
of the same term in different contexts
may lead to the wrong perception
of the technical level of standards
and their distorted application ;
• the development of new standards
could benefit from the availability of
a thesaurus of terms already defined,
and whose application is likely to
span different fields ;
• the extension of a harmonized
terminology to a multilingual list
may help international trade and
foster global acceptance of the
standard.
Terminology in earth-moving
machinery may represent a particular
case, but the principle is of general
validity. Standardization must start
from a common understanding, the
identification of the object being dealt
with, and the description of requirements must follow.
Starting ten years ago, the application of this principle led to the definition
of a priority list for the subcommittee’s
terminology activities, substantial revision of ISO 6165, followed by parts
1 and 2 of ISO 6747 for general and
third-level machine-specific standards.
This work is nearly accomplished, and
the final EMM identification tree is
shown in Figure 2.
This effective process allows
standardization to stay abreast of everchanging market conditions by : (1)
defining a machine, (2) developing
its specific terminology, commercial
specifications and performance terms,
(3) starting the standardization of testing and safety aspects, or amending
existing relevant standards.
It allowed the full set of TC
127 standards to maintain a basically
good, yet improvable, internal consistency. Successful examples of the
application of the terminology revision
concept include the definition of the
compact dumper (which is still in
progress), the walking excavator and,
more recently, horizontal directional
drills and rotating pipe layers.
This renewed commitment to
the consistent use of standards terminology, significantly boosted by ISO
and the European Committee for Standardization’s (CEN) strong interaction
on safety standards, will be addressed
by project leaders and working group
conveners during the next ISO/TC
127/SC 4 meeting in Sydney.
Building on
solid ground
Tractor testing –
A new era
of ISO/OECD
cooperation
by Doug Durant, Chair of
ISO/TC 23, Tractors and
machinery for agriculture and
forestry, SC 2, Common tests,
and Roger Hoy, Convenor of
ISO TC/23/SC 2/WG 7
responsible for the development
of ROPS standards
W
hen ISO and the Organization
for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently, it not only established a new relationship between the
two organizations, but also heralded
an era of bilateral cooperation in the
development of dual-designated globally relevant ISO/OECD agricultural
tractor test standards.
(For an overview on the benefits of harmonized test methods for
agricultural tractor performance measurements, and the verification of safety related aspects, see ISO Focus April
2006, Tractor Testing – Cooperation
for the global good.)
Above – The ISO/TC 23/SC 2 committee
scope includes Agricultural Tractors such
as the John Deere 8030 Series tractors.
nized and used around
the world for performance comparisons between tractor models. They
can also be used
as the basis for
compliance with
national and
regional regulatory requirements
and thus help promote international trade.
Tractor under test
Performance-based without
design restrictions
For over 40 years, agricultural tractor test procedures have
provided test methods for measuring tractor performance and safety
equipment such as rollover protective structures (ROPS). Most importantly, these common tests are performance-based without being design
restrictive.
Measurements include fuel consumption (machine operating expense),
drawbar power (ability to pull implements), hitch lifting capacity (ability to lift attached implements), and
power take-off (PTO) (power available for implements). The results of
these tests, normally carried out by
3rd party testing agencies, are recog-
New relationships,
new challenges
While the MOU clearly defines
the new relationship between the organizations, it was soon realized that
several challenging issues had to be
addressed in order to achieve dualdesignated ISO/OECD standards.
The most obvious is the extensive standards development history
– OECD developed the first test procedure (Tractor Test Code) in 1959,
while ISO has developed and published standards since the inception
of ISO/TC 23, Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry, SC 2,
Common tests, in 1971. It’s not surprising that both organizations feel a
strong, unilateral sense of ownership
of their standards.
A further complication was the
concern that it would diminish the
importance of the OECD Agricultural
About the authors
Doug Durant is
the Chair of ISO/
TC 23/SC 2.
He is the Manager
Product Standards,
Global Agricultural Tractor
Strategic
Standards
Coordinator at
John Deere,
Product Engineering Center. Mr. Durant
is also the Chair of the US OECD
Coordinating Committee.
Roger Hoy is
the Convenor of
ISO TC/23/SC 2/
WG 7 responsible
for the development of ROPS
standards.
Dr. Hoy is
Director of the
University of
Nebraska Tractor
Test Laboratory located in Lincoln,
Nebraska, USA.
ISO Focus November 2006
27
Main Focus
Tractor Test Schemes or ISO/TC 23/
SC 2, and that was a potentially significant barrier to establishing a new
era with a bilateral approach to cooperation.
Finally, there were substantial
technical differences between similar standards developed independently and by different technical experts
over many years.
Opening the way
to harmonization
The first challenge for ISO was
the relocation of several technical
standards within the subcommittee
framework. Since the MOU specifically focused on the SC 2 programme,
it was essential to have the ROPS standards transferred from SC 3, Safety
of agricultural machinery, to SC 2.
These included :
“ The MOU between ISO
and OECD heralds an era
of bilateral cooperation in
developing globally relevant
tractor test standards.”
At the University of Nebraska, National
Tractor Test Laboratory, an agricultural tractor
undergoes PTO (power take-off) testing in
order to quantify the power available to the
implement.
• ISO 3463, Tractors for agriculture
and forestry – Roll-over protective
structures – Dynamic test method
and acceptance conditions,
• ISO 5700, Tractors for agriculture
and forestry – Roll-over protective
structures – Static test method and
acceptance conditions,
• ISO 12003-1, Agriculture and forestry tractors – Narrow-track wheeled
tractors – Part 1 : Front mounted
roll-over protective structures,
• ISO 12003-2, Agriculture and forestry tractors – Narrow-track wheeled
tractors – Part 2 : Rear-mounted rollover protective structures.
A further complication was the
fact that ISO 3463 and ISO 5700 were
undergoing DIS ballot, and the proposed revisions did not accommodate
changes that would promote harmonization with the OECD Codes. However, close cooperation with ISO/TC
23 enabled the transfer following closure of the DIS ballot.
At the China Agricultural Machinery Testing
Centre (CAMTC) in Beijing, China, the tractor
rear two-post rollover protective structure
(ROPS) deflects as it absorbs the energy
during the lateral loading sequence.
28
ISO Focus November 2006
In response, SC 2 established a
working group to review the DIS comments, address other technical issues,
and open the way to direct OECD
member input. The combined ISO
and OECD inputs enabled the working group to identify the ideal technical requirements required for harmonization. This was the true beginning
of cooperation and the promotion of a
new vision by ISO and, more importantly, OECD members.
A tangle of technical
differences
ISO and OECD global experts
were confronted with a number of significant technical issues, including:
• Use of seat index point (SIP) in ISO
5353, Earth-moving machinery, and
tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry – Seat index point
– versus seat reference point (SRP)
in ISO 3462, Tractors and machinery
for agriculture and forestry – Seat
reference point – Method of determination.
• Elimination of the central datum
point (CDP) due to its complexity
and potential for confusion, and
• Cold weather embrittlement (impact
of cold weather on steel strength).
In the case of SIP versus SRP,
it is essential to define a common
reference point relative to the oper-
Building on
solid ground
ator’s seat in establishing the ROPS
protective clearance zone (photo bottom left, previous page) – especially as this zone is used in the controlled test procedures in the ROPS
standards above to verify the likelihood of driver injury resulting from
accidental overturning during normal operation.
“ The long-term benefits
of the ISO/OECD joint
efforts are already
being felt.”
The development of ISO 5353
(SIP Test Fixture) eliminated some deficiencies in the ISO 3462 fixture since it
was more repeatable with newer curved
seats and lumbar support systems, and
better measurement of the human-toseat interface. As a result, ISO 3462 was
withdrawn in 1998 and the ISO ROPS
standards were updated to reflect the
new SIP approach. However, the fact
that the new SIP was not recognized by
OECD in the tractor ROPS test codes,
nor in the EU ROPS Regulations, led
to the technical differences.
The benefits of OECD/ISO cooperation began to emerge when the ISO/
TC 23/SC 2 working group on ROPS
presented its findings to the 2006 OECD
Designated Authorities for Agricultural
Tractor Testing meeting. This report
resulted in an OECD resolution that a
draft document would be prepared for
the 2007 Annual Meeting detailing the
transition from the seat reference point
(SRP) to the seat index point (SIP) in
the OECD ROPS Codes.
Implementation of these changes will allow full technical harmonization between the ISO ROPS standards and the OECD ROPS Codes.
This is just one example of several
activities in progress.
An essential recipe
for success
In agreeing technical harmonization, it is clear that the contributions of both OECD and ISO members
are essential in developing standards
of global relevance accepted by both
organizations.
While OECD generally represents testing institutes, academia and
government agencies, ISO generally
represents industry and trade associations. Each organization brings its
own unique knowledge and experience and collectively they represent
all interested parties. And most importantly, a broader global perspective
results from the participation of countries from the developed and developing world.
At the Estacion de Mecanica Agricola (EMA) test station in Madrid, Spain, an Agrimac articulated tractor with mid-mounted rollover protective
structure (ROPS) demonstrates the ROPS zone of protection required for the operator.
ISO Focus November 2006
29
Main Focus
Global Harmonization Plan - ROPS Standards
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ISO/OECD
This diversity is a recipe for
greater success in the development
of globally relevant standards.
A milestone and
a first step
While the development of the
ISO/OECD ROPS standards is a milestone, it is only the first step in their
implementation around the world. This
is particularly relevant in view of the
mixture of regulations and countryspecific ROPS standards that do not
directly relate to those of ISO and/
or OECD.
30
ISO Focus November 2006
04)"
Dual-designated ROPS standards clearly provide the essential
foundation to such global harmonization (See Figure 1). Efforts will be
focused on promoting recognition of
the joint ISO/OECD standards by the
European Commission, the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), and by numerous
national standards bodies that have
ROPS standards in place, e.g. Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.
Narrow tractor
United States
Withdrawal of standards
contingent to OSHA acceptance of
OECD/ISO xxxxxx standards
(nationally adopted)
Figure 1 – The ISO/TC 23/SC 2 ROPS
international harmonization plan clearly
rests on achieving technical harmonization
between ISO and OECD.
Although these are still early
days, the long-term benefits of the ISO/
OECD joint efforts are already being
felt, and will provide the momentum
for other harmonization projects in
the near future.
th
ISO 29 General Assembly
Canada 2006 – Opening ceremony
Delegates witnessed the welcome
fanfare performed by the Governor
General’s Foot Guard Band.
To benefit from standardization :
Anticipate, Participate, Implement,
Communicate
F
or the second time since
ISO’s creation in 1947,
Canada hosted the ISO
General Assembly. More than 350
delegates from 112 countries and
10 regional and international
organizations gathered in Ottawa
for three days of debate and
exchange over the positive contribution of International Standards
to the facilitation of trade,
sustainable development, security,
health issues and the dissemination
of new technologies and good
business practices.
“As a founding member of
ISO, Canada has been at the forefront
of many of the organization’s achievements for close to 60 years,” said
ISO President, Prof. Masami Tanaka.
“ Canadians have made significant
contributions to many of ISO’s
16 000 standards, as exemplified
by their leadership role in the
development of the internationallyrecognized ISO 9000 and ISO
14000 series of standards, and
more recently in the work towards
the first global standard for social
responsibility,” he added.
Dr. Colin Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable
Maxime Bernier, Minister of
Industry, stressed the important
role international standards play
in strengthening the economy and
contributing to the quality of life.
“As a trading nation, Canada
has long realized the importance
of standardization.
From left : Prof. Masami Tanaka,
President of ISO;
Dr. Colin Carrie, Parliamentary
Secretary to the Honourable Maxime
Bernier, Minister of Industry;
Mr. Hugh Krentz, Chairman
of the Standards Council of Canada.
Both NAFTA and the World
Trade Organization recognize
international standards as key to
harmonizing trade practices, while
ensuring the safety and quality
of products and services.”
“Standards, while often
invisible to consumers, play
a major role in the economy by
helping business and industry
reduce operating costs, access
new markets, encourage
innovation and enhance
marketability,” noted Chairman
of the Standards Council
of Canada, Hugh Krentz.
ISO Focus November 2006
31
ISO 29th General Assembly
ISO and its standards are truly
international
O
p e n i n g t h e A s s e m b l y,
ISO President Prof. Masami
Tanaka commented on what
he saw as the three major topical issues
within ISO : the international outreach
of ISO, the usefulness of its standards
in providing solutions to global challenges, and the development of communication on standards.
“ Firstly, ISO and its standards
are truly international,” said Prof.
Tanaka, referring to ISO’s current
membership of 157 countries from
all regions of the world. “ Its network,
together with its connections with international and regional organizations,
allows ISO standards to be based on
a double level of consensus – among
nations as well as among the relevant
groups of stakeholders.”
ISO standards are intended to
reflect the full diversity of interests
and needs of the world’s peoples, he
said, adding that “this puts ISO in a
virtuous circle whereby our standards
benefit from a truly international consensus and from international dissemination.”
“ My second point is about the
usefulness of International Standards
despite the current degree of apprehension that certainly exists about the
evolution of the international trading system,” explained Prof. Tanaka,
referring to the apprehension stemming from uncertainty regarding the
outcome of the Doha Round negotiations within the World Trade Organization.
“ Instead of posing a threat to
the type of International Standards
we produce,” noted Prof. Tanaka,
“ this context makes them even more
important and topical.”
He underlined that if the contracting partners in regional, multilateral and bilateral trade agreements
use International Standards as the
basis for the harmonization of their
regulations, their import and export
32
ISO Focus November 2006
criteria or their business practices,
then they avoid the need to mobilize
resources to create diverging regional standards and they make the best
use of international expertise. Prof.
Tanaka added that adopting International Standards gives them increased
potential and competitiveness for
external trade.
“ The third point I would like
to emphasize is the importance of
communicating the benefits of voluntary international standardization,”
said Prof. Tanaka. International Standards have the power to connect the
world’s peoples in coordinated activities addressing global issues.
For example, environmental
management system standards work
towards global solutions by inviting
all generations, including children, to
get involved within their own organizations.
Prof. Tanaka also underlined
the action point arising from the ISO
strategic objectives which identifies
the need to promote standardization
to students in higher education and
to their teachers.
“ Promoting international standardization to young people is part of
broader efforts we are making to communicate to stakeholder groups who
may not yet fully realize the potential benefits that implementing our
standards can provide,” said the ISO
President.
He concluded by announcing
the creation of the ISO Award for
Higher Education in Standardization,
which will be presented for the first
time on the occasion of the 2007 General Assembly.
The ISO system operates
effectively
W
hen introducing his
report to the General
Assembly, ISO SecretaryGeneral Mr. Alan Bryden drew
attention to the paradox that while
tensions have grown considerably on
the planet, many developments indicate that interdependence is increasing and greater solidarity is needed
more than ever.
He used three examples to illustrate his point : the sharp rise in the price
of oil ; global warming and the multiplication of natural disasters ; and the
significant increase in volume of world
trade. At the same time, paradoxically,
the WTO Doha Round, so far, has not
been successfully concluded.
“ For each of these issues, as for
many others, voluntary International
Standards of the type we produce in
ISO are, more than ever, expected to
provide solutions,” said Mr. Bryden.
“ Our responsibility is therefore to
propose and promote our system to
develop the International Standards
required by the world community, in
the most efficient, timely and consensual manner.”
Principal officers of ISO together with
Canadian personalities
From left : Dr. George Arnold, ISO Vice-President
(policy) ; Mr. Alan Bryden, ISO SecretaryGeneral ; Prof. Masami Tanaka, ISO President ;
Mr. Hugh Krentz, Chairman of Standards
Council of Canada ; Ms. Ziva Patir, ISO VicePresident (technical management) ;
Mr. Antoine Fatio, ISO Treasurer; Dr. Colin
Carrie, Parliamentary Secretary to the
Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry ;
Mr. Håkan Murby, ISO President-elect.
Commenting on recent achievements, Mr. Bryden highlighted three
topical issues crucial to ISO’s future
developments where concrete actions
are being taken, which imply the
involvement of its members :
• becoming more proactive and organized to address innovative areas
where ISO’s added value might be
useful for the development of International Standards ;
• consolidating and promoting ISO’s
network of collaboration with international and regional organizations ;
• increasing our vigilance and solidarity in regard to the legal and commercial implications of the standards we collectively produce.
ISO Focus November 2006
33
ISO 29th General Assembly
The ISO system operates effectively
(Continued)
As concerns becoming more
proactive in innovative fields for international standardization, Mr. Bryden
listed numerous examples that confirm
the relevance of this approach, such
as ISO’s involvement in water services, geosynthetics, personal financial
planning, nanotechnologies, and the
extension of information technologies to applications such as teaching
and learning or biometrics.
“ The positive development of
our work on social responsibility, or
the setting up of a Strategic Advisory
Group on security, to which IEC and
ITU are now associated,” said Mr.
Bryden, “ are good examples of the
benefits of upstream strategic thinking
and networking at the global level.”
In terms of collaboration with
other organizations, Mr. Bryden
announced the development of a database, which should be accessible to
ISO members in the coming months,
which would help facilitate and disseminate information on ISO’s liaisons
with international and broadly based
regional organizations.
Mr. Bryden went on to draw
attention to the recent increased
focus on the legal and commercial
implications of our standards. “ The
awareness and solidarity of our members is indispensable in making such
measures contribute effectively to the
sustainability of the ISO System.”
He concluded by underlining
the need to develop communication
of the benefits to be drawn from international standardization : “ The issue
of communication is a constant in
my report, and I hope you will agree
that much has been done in the recent
past to raise the profile of ISO and its
members on the world scene.”
34
ISO Focus November 2006
International
Electrotechnical
Commission
D
r. Renzo Tani, IEC President, pointed to the organization’s ability to remain
responsive to the market, adding that the
IEC is not alone in what it does. “We
work closely with ISO to do our job and
I am happy that cooperative relations
between us are very good. This cooperation shows up in a variety of ways.”
International
Telecommunication
Union
M
r. Gary Fishman, who
represented the Telecommunication Standardization
Bureau of the ITU (ITU-T) on behalf
of Mr. Houlin Zhao, Director of ITUT, spoke of the practical, real-world
demonstrations on the joint efforts
undertaken by the World Standards
Cooperation (WSC).
He gave as an example the
most significant accomplishment of
commitment to cooperation – the
WSC’s agreement on a common patent
policy : “ That is a clear demonstration that we are willing to address
issues of importance to our respective organizations, to represent our
respective memberships and to come
to a successful conclusion.”
Dr. Renzo Tani
“ Ultimately, I think it’s healthy
for both of our organizations to work
side-by-side in a cooperative spirit,”
said Dr. Tani. “ It lets each of us get
on with fulfilling our respective missions in an efficient way.”
He went on to list the various
cooperative strategies used by the IEC
and ISO to make the work efficient,
such as the mutual sharing of information about governance and policy,
the ISO/IEC Directives for technical work, the coordination between
the IEC and ISO technical management bodies, commonality in conformity assessment and coordination
of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) activities.
Dr. Tani concluded : “ It is a
good thing for us to cooperate and
to include others where appropriate.
I expect good relations and good
cooperation to continue between IEC
and ISO far into the future.”
Mr. Gary Fishman
After the successful conclusion
of joint workshops, including the
glowing reports from participants who
took the WSC Standardization Community Management course, he also
raised the issue of common workshops
in other areas. “ We are now working
together on new workshops in areas
as diverse as automobiles, security,
radio frequency identification devices
(RFID) and the electronic home.”
In other examples of cooperation, ITU-T has welcomed ISO
participation in its Joint Coordina-
tion Activity on Home Networking,
and ISO/IEC has welcomed ITU-T
participation in its Strategic Advisory Group on Security. Additionally, following an address on testing
and conformity assessment by Mr.
Bryden to the ITU-T Study Group
Chairmen, the ITU-T is expressing
an increased interest for conformity
assessment matters.
“ In the end – it is all to the
benefit for the systems of international standardization led by our
organizations,” said Mr. Fishman.
“ We should continue to strengthen our future cooperation and also
the promotion of international standardization.”
World
Trade
Organization
I
n a video address, Mr. Pascal
Lamy, Director-General of the
World Trade Organization (WTO)
conveyed a message showing up the
relationship between ISO and WTO:
“The absence of International Standards can be a serious impediment
to trade. In a world without such
standards, exporters must comply
with the myriad of different standards
that exist in each of their export
destinations.”
Mr. Pascal Lamy
All photos courtesy of
Standards Council of Canada
“ What the process of harmonization has brought to international
trade is in fact a ‘ facilitation ’ of
trade on a massive scale. It has also
brought cost-saving for exporters,
who do not have to maintain separate
production lines for each of their
export destinations, allowing for the
birth of economies of scale, ” Mr.
Lamy added.
He also urged ISO to continue
pursuing steps “ to facilitate the integration of developing countries in the
world of standardization.”
The WTO representative Ms.
Marie-Isabelle Pellan, highlighted the
developments in the TBT Committee’s
work, particularly with respect to
the triennial review scheme for the
Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT Agreement).
She explained the Committee’s
activities, including a workshop on
conformity assessment, which aimed to
improve the members’ implementation
of Articles 5 to 9 of the TBT Agreement 1) and underlined ISO’s invaluable
contribution on this subject.
With respect to the fourth
triennial review of the Agreement,
Ms. Pellan noted that the process
is well underway and should be
completed by the end of 2006. The
areas covered by this review include
good regulatory practices, conformity
assessment procedures, transparency,
technical assistance, and special and
differential treatment.
Ms. Marie-Isabelle Pellan
She concluded by explaining
the WTO Secretariat’s work on technical cooperation with developing
countries and, in so doing, praised
ISO for its work.
1) A summary of the various presentations
and perspectives discussed during this
workshop is posted on the WTO’s Web site :
www.wto.org (G/TBT/M/38/Add.I).
ISO Focus November 2006
35
ISO 29th General Assembly
Management
of the
technical work
M
s. Ziva Patir, ISO VicePresident (technical management), reviewed the
developments in ISO’s technical work
and the busy year between the General Assembly in Singapore in 2005
and this one in Canada, 2006. She
highlighted the Technical Management
Board’s (TMB) business plan – as
a useful tool to keep ISO’s work
globally relevant – and the future of
management system standards.
She also commented on the
progress made on the preparation of the
ISO/IEC Guide for the use of ISO/IEC
standards and their nationally adopted
equivalent, as support to technical
regulations, to create synergy between
technical regulations and International
Standards. “ This is based on the WTO
TBT Agreement requirement, but more
importantly, it is to help our members
to persuade their governments to use
International Standards.”
Special guests
In addressing the Strategic
Advisory Group on Security, Ms. Patir
reviewed the two major activities under
way: the preparation of a Guide for the
integration of security requirements
in standards and the preparation of
roadmaps for future standardization
needs that will be prepared through
subject-specific workshops involving
the members of the relevant technical
committees and stakeholders.
ISO Strategic
Plan
vative fields ; cooperate with international organizations ; consolidate
and promote the CASCO Toolbox ;
strengthen communications and links
with stakeholders ; ensure implementation of the Action Plan for developing countries ; continue improving
processes and ICT, increasing the
efficiency of the organization.
In highlighting actions devolving upon members, Dr. Arnold indicated that all ISO members should
contribute to the consistent and effective implementation of the Strategic
Plan and urged ISO members to take
appropriate action to see that its
objectives were implemented.
D
r. George Arnold, ISO
Vice-President (policy),
recalled the unanimous
approval of the ISO Strategic Plan
2005-2010 and reminded the audience
of the seven key objectives to be
attained for 2010.
He reviewed the annual implementation plan and drew attention
to the various initiatives that will
be taken for the period 2006-2007 :
develop a new approach to identify
and promote standardization in inno-
A balanced
budget
I
“
would like to share with you
the satisfaction of having a
sound financial situation,” said
Mr. Antoine Fatio, ISO Treasurer,
when underlining the good economic and technical performance.
The ISO Central Secretariat
has benefited fully from reengineering undertaken in 2003 and pursued
since. Revenue from sales which has
increased for both the ISO Central
Secretariat and ISO members reflects
the increase in production, promotion
and topicality of ISO standards. IT
and other support services to ISO
members have also increased whilst
a redeployment and enhancement of
training and communication activities
have been achieved.
“ ISO represents good value
for our members’ money,” concluded
the ISO Treasurer.
Delegates had the pleasant surprise to
meet three special guests – all Canadians.
Pictured here are former ISO President Roy
Phillips (left), and former ISO Vice-Presidents
Ralph Hennessy (centre), and John Kean
(right). These three Canadians have been
vital contributors to many of ISO’s milestone
achievements.
36
ISO Focus November 2006
Delegates enjoy their picture
taken with the Governor General's
Foot Guard Band.
Topical issues
Trends for International Standards
in management systems
“
W
hat does industry need
in five years or less
in terms of management systems,” asked
Mr. Rob Steele, Chief Executive of
the ISO member for New Zealand,
who reviewed ISO’s involvement
in the development of management
systems standards. His presentation
provided food for thought and should
pave the way for further challenging
discussions.
Responding to climate change
T
he ISO 14064 standards for
greenhouse gas accounting
and verification provide government and industry with an
integrated set of tools for programmes
aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, as well as for emissions
trading. Mr. Wayne S. Richardson,
Director, TEAM Operations Office,
Government of Canada, examined
the implementation of greenhouse
gas reduction strategies in his country. TEAM (Technology Early Action
Measures) supports projects that are
designed to demonstrate technologies
that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions nationally and internationally,
and that sustain economic and social
development.
Mr. Rob Steele
A Strategic Advisory Group
has been requested to propose actions
to improve ISO’s reach towards the
public and private sectors in order to
better address trends in management
practices, expectations on management system standards and their promotion. A coordination group will
ensure technical assistance between
committees preparing management
system standards.
Mr. Wayne S. Richardson
Mr. Wayne said : “ We look forward to the new ISO 14065 standard
(requirements for the accreditation
of bodies involved in verification
and validation) and to future international cooperation and the sharing
of knowledge and resources.”
ISO Focus November 2006
37
Thank you,
Mario Wittner,
Chair of CASCO
th
ISO 29 General Assembly
ISO Contest
for young
standardizers
M
r. Cannald Madungwe
(left in the photo below)
from SAZ, the Standards
Association of Zimbabwe,
ISO member for the country, was presented with the ISO Helmut Reihlen
Award at ISO’s General Assembly in
Ottawa, Canada.
ISO Vice-President (technical
management) Ziva Patir (right) and ISO
Secretary-General Alan Bryden (centre) presented the award to Mr. Madungwe for the best essay submitted to the
ISO Contest of Young Standardizers in
developing countries and economies in
transition on the theme, “ Stakeholder
involvement for effective participation
in international standardization.”
Mr. Sumit Sengar, BIS (India),
and Mr. Francis Nyikayaramba, SAZ
(Zimbabwe), were ranked second and
third for the award.
Held every second year within
the framework of the ISO Action Plan
for developing countries, the contest
aims at encouraging young professionals to embark on a successful
career in standardization and to raise
awareness of the importance of standards in promoting safe and sustainable economic development.
The award is co-sponsored
by ISO and the Deutsches Institut
für Normung (DIN), ISO member
for Germany.
38
ISO Focus November 2006
Developing
countries in
technical work
T
he Committee on Developing Country Matters (DEVCO)
and the Technical Management
Board (TMB) organized a joint
panel discussion at the 40th meeting of
DEVCO held in Ottawa, Canada.
The panel was focused on
exploring ways of strengthening the
participation of developing countries
in ISO’s technical work. The main
subjects discussed were :
• concept of twinning (partnering of
a developing with a developed country to collaborate in ISO technical
work) – it
was felt that
the concept
deserves
more adequate promotion and
additional
guidance as
to how to go
about setting up twinning arrangements.
• hosting of ISO meetings in developing countries - using them as opportunities for awareness-raising and for
building capacity of national standards body staff and delegates.
• holding of leadership positions
within ISO technical committees
by developing countries.
• improving the relevance of International Standards for developing countries (ISO’s Global Relevance).
Mrs. Maureen Mutasa, DEVCO
Chair, said the panel was welcomed
as a very positive and important first
step towards closer collaboration
between DEVCO and TMB.
In a special resolution, the ISO
Council expressed
its sincere gratitude to Mr. Mario
Wittner for his
successful, dynamic and enthusiastic chairmanship
of ISO CASCO
from 2003 to 2006,
which greatly contributed to ISO’s
effectiveness in
addressing key issues on conformity assessment, and lauded his
efforts to promote the CASCO
Toolbox throughout the world.
From left : Mrs.
Maureen Mutasa,
Chair of ISO’s
Committee on
developing country
matters (DEVCO),
Dr. Bernardo
Calzadilla-Sarmiento,
DEVCO Secretary,
and ISO President
Prof. Masami
Tanaka.
Thank you,
Maureen Mutasa,
Chair of DEVCO
In a special resolution, the
ISO Council expressed its deepfelt gratitude to Mrs. Maureen
Mutasa for her valuable chairmanship of DEVCO from 2003 to
2006. Her dynamism and enthusiasm, accompanied by an excellent knowledge of standardization on the one hand, and of the
specific needs of the developing countries on the other, were
instrumental in the implementation of the 2003 revised DEVCO terms of reference, including the DEVCO Chair's Advisory Group.
Elections/Appointments
Six members were elected to serve
on the ISO Council for the 20072008 term :
Denmark (DS), Malaysia (DSM),
Malta (MSA), Singapore (SPRING
SG), Slovakia (SUTN), South
Africa (SABS)
Thank you, Professor Tanaka
The ISO Secretary-General presented
Prof. Masami Tanaka with the ISO
cuff-links as a token of ISO’s appreciation for the many contributions
to the conduct of its affairs made by
him during his term as ISO President
in 2005-2006. President Tanaka had
demonstrated outstanding leadership
and fairness in hearing all points of
view and in guiding the ISO Council
expeditiously towards consensus positions and recommendations.
Three members were re-appointed
to serve for the same term :
France (AFNOR), Germany (DIN),
USA (ANSI)
ISO Council nominations
Mr. Olivier Peyrat (France) was
appointed CASCO Chair (ISO’s
policy committee on conformity
assessment) for the 2007-2008
term.
Mr. Iman Sudarwo (Indonesia) was
appointed DEVCO Chair (ISO’s
policy committee on developing
country matters) for the 20072008 term.
Regional liaison officers for
the 2007-2009 term:
Mrs. Maureen Mutasa (Zimbabwe) was appointed for the African
region, excluding the Arab countries.
Mr. Manuel Diaz Portocarrero (Venezuela) was re-appointed for South
America and Mr. Svayam Prakash
Sharma (India) for South Asia.
Thank you, Canada
The General Assembly expressed its
sincere thanks to the Standards Council of Canada for its warm welcome
and the outstanding arrangements
it has made for ISO Canada 2006.
Further, the General Assembly ex-
pressed its heartfelt gratitude to the
staff of SCC for their untiring helpfulness and cooperation during the
event, which facilitated the proceedings and greatly contributed to the
success of the event as a whole.
General Assembly
2007 and 2008
The 30 th ISO General Assembly
will take place in Geneva from
19 to 21 September 2007.
The ISO member body for the
United Arab Emirates, ESMA,
graciously invited the General
Assembly to hold its 31st session from
14 to 16 October 2008 in Dubai.
ISO Focus November 2006
39
ISO 29th General Assembly
Getting everyone on board
A
wide range of stakeholders
stand to gain from International Standards that represent the broadest possible international consensus between all interested
parties and, moreover, that standards
developed in such conditions will be
useable anywhere in the world. However, the challenge is not in deciding
whether or not these views should
or should not be included, but rather what can be done to increase and
enhance the participation of consumers and developing countries as well
as other social forces in the process
of development of the standards.
At the ISO General Assembly,
in a special panel session entitled,
“ Stakeholder participation – Getting
everyone on board ” moderated by
ISO Deputy Secretary-General Kevin
McKinley, five high-profile personalities were invited to explain what they
personally suggest as the best ways to
increase stakeholder participation.
by government for expenses incurred
by industry participants to approved
standardization activities to be tax
deductible.
He underlined that the Trust
Fund, managed by DSM (Malaysia),
will be used to finance participation
in regional and international standardization activities such as attendance of
international meetings of ISO technical
committees and subcommittees, particularly by experts from NGOs such as
Consumer Associations, learned/professional bodies, etc.
“ I am one who strongly believes
that stakeholder participation in whatever activities we wish to promote will
only come about when we are viewed
with respect by our stakeholders,” said
Dr. Tajuddin Ali. “We must make them
believe in the cause we are pursuing, that
there are tangible benefits to be gained,
for themselves and for the community
at large, through their involvement and
participation in our activities.”
Explaining tangible benefits
Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, Chairman of the Malaysian Standards and
Accreditation Council, representing,
among others, the stakeholder category of public authorities and governance, gave examples of getting
government involvement and using
it as a means to further enhance
the participation of other stakeholders in standardization and its
related activities.
He presented Malaysia’s
National Standards Strategy and
Action Plan, for which two strategies specific to getting wider stakeholder participation and involvement
in standardization activities were
included.
Dr. Tajuddin Ali went on to
highlight two recent outcomes of their
initiatives : the approval of the government of the setting up of a Trust Fund,
to which donors, particularly industry, can contribute and the approval
40
ISO Focus November 2006
The importance of motivation
Representing the stakeholder category of industry, Mr. Robert
Noth, Manager of Engineering Standards for Deere & Company, and Chair
of ANSI (USA), explained that industry
will walk away from the standards process if they don’t see the benefit : standards are only worth pursing when the
benefits of the majority of stakeholders are perceived to outweigh the costs
to develop them. Otherwise, he said,
there is no motivation to “ volunteer ”
to develop “ voluntary ” standards or to
comply with them.
He stressed the need to deploy
telecommunications and IT tools vigorously, indicating how this will pay
much larger dividends quicker than subsidies for travelling to meetings. “ Such
technology,” he said, “ will also allow
developing countries to engage knowledgeable stakeholders in relevant sectoral TCs, SCs and WGs.”
He went on to say that more participating members on most committees are needed to ensure global relevance and global implementation of
ISO work, and that subsidies are not the
best answer to that challenge. Instead,
he proposed the need to lower the cost
of participation in order to expand
effective participation and speed up
the time to market.
A win-win situation in
the automotive industry
For the panel discussion on “ Stakeholder
participation – Getting everyone on board ”,
the ISO Central Secretariat produced an
animation clip which can be obtained free
of charge upon request (pr@iso.org).
From the perspective of
industry, Mr. Paolo Scolari, President of UNI (Italy), highlighted
the automotive sector, noting the
benefits it has incurred by the practice and use of technical standards. “I
think this joint effort between private
sector and the public administration
has been one of the best examples of
cooperation between different stakeholders, providing benefits to the society as a whole.”
He also underlined how the
worldwide automotive sector, as the
major stakeholder, has provided, over
many decades, thousands of experts to
study and develop the standards. “It is
certainly up to the business leaders to
take the initiative,” said Mr. Scolari,
“but we, as national standard bodies,
with ISO as our common leader, have
to be instrumental in facilitating and
fostering the process.”
Mr. Scolari noted that “ taking
everyone on board ” could only create a
“win-win” situation : it involves sharing
knowledge and skills, views and opportunities, and spreading and communicating “culture” (meaning the strategic,
political, and social role that standardization can play).
He noted that communication
is a fundamental tool and should build
on the current approach taken by ISO
based on a two-prong strategy : one
aimed at business leaders and the other one aimed at the experts, operators
and academia.
Outreach starts at
the national level
Ms. Jai Ok Kim, President, Consumers Korea and Chair of COPOLCO,
representing the stakeholder category
of societal interests including consumers, explained that effective participation starts at the national level.
Stakeholder representation, she
said, can be facilitated by a national
standards body in a number of ways,
such as through training, outreach (i.e.
why standards are valuable), finance,
Getting everyone on board :
From left : Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali,
Mr. Robert Noth, Mr. Paolo Scolari,
Ms. Jai Ok Kim, Mr. Martin Kuscus, and
panel session moderator, Kevin McKinley,
Deputy Secretary-General of ISO.
and ensuring adequate representation
in national technical committees and
mirror committees, and delegations to
ISO meetings.
Ms. Kim also emphasized the
necessity to explain the benefits of
standardization to civil society groups
– and get them on board – and to
engage NGOs who develop their own
standards, certification and accreditation programmes to use ISO standards
and processes.
According to Ms. Kim, consumers have recently started making more choices based on ethical
and sustainable production practices,
with increasingly sophisticated certification and marking schemes associated with these. Should ISO decide
to investigate the feasibility of International Standards in, for example,
fair trade and sustainable tourism, it
would be helpful to consider the work
of these NGOs.
Ms. Kim concluded : “ In the
interest of achieving the UN Millennium
Goals for Sustainable Development, it
is more important now than ever for
civil society, governments and standards organizations to work hand-inglove for a better future for all inhabitants of this ‘ global village ’. ”
Dialogue results in stakeholder
engagement
Mr. Martin Kuscus, President
of SABS (South Africa), represented
a member body which has recently
conducted a successful re-engineering
project based on a broad consultation
of national stakeholders.
He explained the extensive consultation process and listed its numerous challenges, including securing and
maintaining the interest and involvement of industry, government departments, and significant consumer organizations.
With a view to maximizing its
service delivery to the industries it
serves, Mr. Kuscus explained how
SABS aligned its activities with seven different industry sectors, each
housing the whole range of SABS services pertinent to a particular industry. The seven industry sectors are :
chemicals ; electrotechnical ; food and
health ; mechanical and materials ;
mining and minerals ; services and
transportation.
The re-engineering, said Mr.
Kuscus, had resulted in improved
stakeholder engagement and improved
access. The change ensured easy access
to products, faster reaction and turnaround times, and the creation of centres of knowledge excellence that will
be easily available to clients.
ISO Focus November 2006
41
ISO 29th General Assembly
ISO’s oil and gas committee
honoured with the Lawrence D. Eicher
Leadership Award
T
he ISO technical committee that
develops International Standards
for the oil and gas industry was
presented with the Lawrence D. Eicher
Leadership Award at the 29 th ISO
General Assembly.
Speaking to this gathering of
ISO officers and national delegates
from around the world, ISO President,
Professor Masami Tanaka, presented
the prestigious award to ISO/TC 67,
Materials, equipment and offshore
structures for the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries,
for excellence in creative and innovative standards development.
ISO President Prof. Masami Tanaka (right)
presents Cheryl Stark, Chair of ISO/TC 67,
with the Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership
Award.
42
ISO Focus November 2006
The American Petroleum Institute (API) holds the secretariat of
the technical committee on behalf
of the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI), ISO member for the
USA, with Cheryl Stark as Chair.
The technical committee, in which
more than 50 countries are currently
represented, with over 1000 experts
participating in its work, is responsible
for the development of more than 120
International Standards comprising
12 000 pages since 1998.
ISO’s Technical Management
Board recommended that ISO/TC 67,
whose vision statement reads Global
standards, used locally worldwide,
be honoured.
In putting this
vision into practice, the technical committee is
closely attuned
to the needs of
the stakeholders in its sector
and uses in-depth
market studies to
identify future
standards needs
of oil and gas
producers and
systematic priority-setting to
keep its work
focused on these
needs.
“The current rise in oil
prices and the
consequent need
to optimize exploration and production
through international standards underlines the topicality of this committee’s
work,” said Prof. Tanaka, when presenting the award to Cheryl Stark.
Prof. Tanaka praised ISO/TC 67
for its “ strong leadership ” and for its
implementation of a five-year manage-
ment plan, project management focus
and production metrics to keep its work
aligned with its vision and strategy. He
congratulated the technical committee
for optimizing resources by avoiding
duplication of work through its close
relationships with API and the European Committee for Standardization
(CEN) and for its strong industry ties
illustrated by its privileged relationship with the International Association
of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP), a
consortium of international companies
and stakeholders.
The ISO Council established
the Lawrence D. Eicher Leadership
Award for Excellence in Creative and
Innovative ISO/TC/SC Services and
Initiatives in 2002, as a tribute to ISO’s
late Secretary-General. This award is
presented annually at the ISO General
Assembly to a deserving ISO technical
committee or subcommittee.
The award recognizes ISO TCs
and SCs (including all those involved :
chairs, secretaries, member bodies,
delegates and experts) for excellence
in creative and innovative services
and initiatives to support their work
and their constituents. This award is
presented to the committee as a whole
and provides an opportunity to publicize and share best practices among
ISO committees.
Dr. Eicher, who passed away
in March 2002, served as SecretaryGeneral of ISO from 1986 to 2002.
ISO 29 th General
Assembly Open session
A
will allow changes in technology to
be rapidly reflected in the standards,
and thereby in the regulations based
around them.
s part of the General
Assembly programme, a
one-day open session took
place on 14 September at which
healthcare experts from Canada and
around the world discussed issues
affecting developed and developing
economies – from patient safety
to electronic health records and
homecare – and the ways in which
International Standards can help.
Improving healthcare
in developing countries
The healthcare landscape
is complex
In a video presentation, Assistant
Director-General, Dr. Timothy Evans,
Evidence and Information Policy, World
Health Organization (WHO), highlighted the complexity of the healthcare landscape, which can be summarized in the following grand challenges in systems performance : scale
(safe, proven and cheap interventions
that do not reach those in need) ; distribution (those with unmet needs are
disproportionately the same as those
with lesser means) ; protection/safety (too many are worse off through
encounters with the health system) ;
systems capabilities (primitive frameworks and responses being used to deal
with complex challenges).
In order to address these challenges, he said, a combination of
national as well as regional and global mechanisms from an intersectorial perspective is required.
Dr. Evans explained how WHO,
as the specialized agency of the United Nations, plays a crucial role in this
area, a role that includes standard-setting activities, in liaison with other
organizations such as the Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF), with
respect to food, biological, pharmaceutical and similar products, as well
as diagnostic procedures.
Standards strengthen Canada’s
healthcare system
Dr. Neil Yeates, Assistant
Deputy Minister, Health Products and
Food Branch, Health Canada, explained
the federal government’s work with
Healthcare
Global challenges
and opportunities
for International
Standards
2006-07-13 09:17:04
provincial and territorial governments
to ensure that all Canadians not only
receive medically necessary services,
but that they receive them within clinically acceptable wait times. He also
went on to explain the need to collaborate with regulatory counterparts
and multilateral organizations and to
harmonize practices with those of other countries.
For Canada, said Dr. Yeates,
the inherent value of standards is recognized, at both national and international levels. “ Standards, as we well
know, also play a fundamental role,
because they bring to bear the very
best and latest thinking on the elements
essential to the development of superior products and processes. Standards
allow us all to speak the same language – the language of quality, and
safety, and concern for the health and
well-being of our citizens.”
Furthermore, he said, it is
Health Canada’s belief that its continued funding of the maintenance of the
standards by a committee of experts
In the case of developing countries, Dr. Mamadou Sidibé, Technical
Advisor to the Ministry of Health in
Mali, explained that the imperatives
of safety, the patient-doctor relationship and the ever-rising cost of medical treatment have led all concerned to
seek standards as a means of limiting
the risks. He also went on to underline the emergence of the quality certification approach in the control of
medicines and laboratory analyses
and the process of certification to ISO
(and IEC) standards (ISO 9001:2000,
ISO/IEC 17025) for industries seeking access to western markets.
While it is true that, in developing countries, this has resulted in
the establishment of mechanisms
designed to confer rights for patients
and make them the focus of the care
structure, he said it is equally true
that, in these countries, it is only the
state – through its health departments
– that this is addressed. In every
country, developed or developing,
there can be no escaping globalization, generalized access to information, and the demands of individuals
whose needs must be satisfied.
Dr. Sidibé concluded by saying that the implementation of standards permits to solve the problems of
public health and to reduce the social
costs of healthcare. It also contributes
to the development of the country and
reduces poverty.
The need to manage health
information
In addressing the integration
of IT into healthcare, Mr. Richard C.
Alvarez, President and CEO, Canada
Health Infoway, an independent,
not-for-profit organization responsible for accelerating the development
of the electronic health record in Canada, explained the country’s quest to
ISO Focus November 2006
43
ISO 29th General Assembly Open session
transform its healthcare system, and
how the key to its progress to date has
been a strong focus on interoperability, through architecture and standards.
He went on to explain Infoway’s
approach to standards development
based on collaboration with input and
consensus from key stakeholders.
To help achieve broader success, standards development organizations, both nationally and internationally, should cooperate and coordinate
with one another more effectively by
extending their outreach to engage the
vendor and clinician communities in
meaningful ways, said Mr. Alvarez.
the texts, is replacing more coercive
models, as governments try to rein in
expenditure and are unable to keep
pace with rapidly changing healthcare technology.
He also went on to say that
the likelihood of voluntary standards
being successful in encouraging public policy goals depends on a range
of factors – among them the risks to
society of non-compliance, the ability of consumers to discern quality
and the track record of the industry
or sector in self regulating – and that
evidence suggest formal standards
have a major impact on success in
the service sector.
Mr. Rowlands concluded: “If
ISO is to contribute standards to meet
health policy goals, then the goals selected must be global, suited to regulatory
solutions and independent of national
variations in health systems; and ISO
must work in partnership with the professional bureaucracies and other critical stakeholders.”
It is time to transform the way
we care for patients
Dr. Thomas H. Clutton-Brock,
Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care,
University of Birmingham, United
Kingdom, explained how ubiquitous
connectors, clumsy alarm systems and
little or no usable device communications leave many areas vulnerable to
human error. Data generated by various devices are still laboriously collected by hand and recorded on paper
records.
“ It is time advances in information and other technologies are used to
transform the way we care for patients,”
noted Dr. Clutton-Brock.
He furthermore underlined the
need to involve clinicians and their education to the development of truly useful regulation and standards, indicating
how both parties have a responsibility
to improve communications. “ Effective
standardization will make this knowledge much less device-specific and
skills will be more transferable both
within and between countries.”
Medical devices – the European
approach
Mr. Norbert Anselmann, Head,
Standardization Unit, Enterprise and
Industry Directorate-General, European Commission, reviewed the European medical devices directives which
have a very broad field of application.
Turning to regulations, Mr. David
Rowlands, General Manager, Health
Informatics, National E-Health Transition Authority, Australia, explained
that “light touch” regulation, which
references and invokes standards rather than entrenching rules and norms in
44
ISO Focus November 2006
© ISO
Standards as a tool for
regulations
They cover tens of thousands of medical devices ranging from pacemakers,
hip joints, surgery robots, and endoscopes to hearing aids, wheel chairs
and artificial legs.
Mr. Anselmann highlighted the
advantages of using voluntary standards in establishing compliance with
European legislation. The legislation, he said, is limited to the essential requirements ensuring the protection of health and safety, whilst it
falls to harmonized standards to provide the technical expression of the
legal requirements, such standards
keep their voluntary nature.
For Mr. Anselmann, standards
provide solutions in accordance with
the state-of-the-art and can be easily
adapted to technological evolution.
Reliance on International Standards,
he concluded, assures easier market
access at a global level.
Healthcare at home
Addressing healthcare at home,
Dr. Toru Watsuji, Manager, Corporate R&D Group, Business Development Department, Sharp Corporation,
Japan, highlighted the shift by the
Japanese government from strengthening its medical facilities to improving the level of health and preventive
medicine in order to reduce the cost
of medical examinations and the tax
burden on the people.
There is a strong demand for
developing systems which can support
the quality of life by monitoring the
daily health condition of the elderly,
he said, citing the example of the Japanese project under development.
This infrastructure, consisting
of advanced instruments, non-invasively monitors the health condition
of the patient, while a data analysis
system evaluates the level of health
condition via a standard communication network. This protocol, fielded in
100 homes (with almost 300 users),
is now going through the process of
standardization.
The health sector is large and complex with
many different application requirements.
Harmonization
During the discussions, speakers raised attention to the importance
of harmonization – both within and
between countries – and to the range
of possible areas in which International Standards can be expected to contribute to healthcare. To this end, the
General Assembly passed a resolution
containing recommendations resulting
from the open session.
Among them are to liaise with
regulators and policy makers in the
health sector, such as the World Health
Organization or the Global Harmonization Task Force, to collaborate with
other standards development organizations in order to optimize resources
and programmes, as well as to promote
the use of ISO standards as a tool for
the improvement of health services in
developing countries.
All presentations are
available on the ISO Web site :
www.iso.org
Standards Council of
Canada Executive Director Peter
Clark pointed out that standards
for cell phones have helped make
global communications a reality.
Similarly, standards for e-health and
patient safety will allow healthcare
providers to access required medical
information through the use of
unique patient identifiers.
Speakers and moderators at the open
session on Healthcare – global challenges
and opportunities for International
Standards.
From left : Dr. Mamadou Sidibé,
Dr. Thomas H. Clutton-Brock, Dr. Neil Yeates,
Mr. Richard Alvarez, moderators Mrs. Elma
Heidemann and Mr. Philip Hassen ; and
Mr. Norbert Anselmann.
The sessions were moderated by Mrs.
Elma Heidemann, former Executive
Director, Canadian Council for Health
Services Accreditation and Mr. Philip
Hassen, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Patient Safety Institute.
Inserts, from left : Dr. Timothy Evans,
Dr. Toru Watsuji and Mr. David Rowlands.
ISO Focus November 2006
45
Developments and Initiatives
Requirements for auditing and
certification of supply chain security
management systems
• defines the rules applicable for the
audit and certification of supply
chain security management systems
conforming to the ISO/PAS 28000
requirements (or similar requirements).
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis,
Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus,
ISO Central Secretariat
T
• provides harmonized guidance for
the accreditation (official approval)
of certification bodies as competent
to perform certification to ISO/PAS
28000 (or to similar requirements) ;
46
ISO Focus November 2006
In addition, by providing customers with information about the
certification process, it may increase
their confidence in the supplier, the
certificate and the certification body
– with benefits to supply chains and
international trade.
ISO/PAS 28003: 2006, Security
management systems for the supply
chain – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of supply
chain security management systems, is
available from ISO national member
institutes and from the ISO Central
Secretariat (sales@iso.org). It was
prepared by ISO technical committee
ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine technology, in collaboration with the ISO
Committee on conformity assessment
(ISO/CASCO).
© ISO
he latest in ISO’s series of documents for supply chain security
management systems provides
the requirements for ensuring that the
bodies which carry out certification
of these systems perform their work
competently and reliably.
The aim is to give confidence
to private sector and governmental
customers who require suppliers like
air, sea, road and rail transporters to
implement security management systems and to have them independently
audited and certified.
The new ISO publicly available
specification ISO/PAS 28003:2006,
Security management systems for the
supply chain– Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification
of supply chain security management
systems, is a companion document to
ISO/PAS 28000:2005, Specification
for security management systems for
the supply chain.
Certification of conformity to
ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is not a requirement
of the document. However, organizations
may choose certification, or it may be
required by their private or public customers, because certification provides
independent verification that the supply
chain security management system of
the organization conforms to specified
requirements, is capable of consistently
achieving its stated policy and objectives
and is implemented effectively.
ISO/PAS 28003:2006, which contains both principles and requirements
ISO management
system standards
deliver results
for operators
large and small in
public and private
sectors
by Roger Frost, Press and
Communication Manager,
ISO Central Secretariat
T
he global relevance of ISO’s
management system standards
and their capacity to benefit
the very largest and the very smallest organizations in both public and
private sectors are underlined by the
recent achievements of three highly
contrasted users : the world’s principal
aviation safety regulator, an operator
of 51 marine terminals on five continents, and a small business employing 20 people.
The Aviation Safety organization
of the USA’s Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) on 16 October 2006 achieved
certification to ISO 9001:2000 of a single quality management system covering a total of 6 242 employees at its
headquarters in Washington DC, nine
regional offices and 125 field offices
in the United States, Belgium, China,
Germany, Singapore and the United
Kingdom.
“Achieving certification to ISO
9001:2000 means that we now hold our
government’s aviation safety business
to the same high standards as those we
regulate,” said FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, Nicholas
A. Sabatini. “As a global leader in
aviation safety, we’re operating more
like a business to ensure that each FAA
office around the world provides the
same level of service and products to
our customers.”
With a budget of USD 948 million, the Aviation Safety organization oversees a diverse and complex
range of business worldwide, including the safety certificates of 6 110 air
operators, 733 000 active pilots, 1 600
approved manufacturers, 91 000 thousand flight instructors, 11 000 “ designees ” (industry experts), and 320 000
aircraft. “ That’s a primary customer
base about as big as they come,” commented Mr. Sabatini.
Anil Wats
Muru Rajah, CEO of Bramfood,
which manufactures seafood and vegetable products, declared : “ ISO 22000:2005
will definitely help the entire food chain
from ‘ farm to fork ’ and avoid unnecessary debate over different standards and
different systems of third-party certification in different countries.
“As the supply chains are diversifying and becoming international
in scope, everyone in the food chain
should follow this standard if they want
to meet the ever-increasing demand for
food safety.
“ Small and medium-sized enterprises should definitely look into ISO
22000:2005 in order to enhance their food
safety management systems, increase their
product acceptability, grow their
businesses and
give tough competition to the bigger companies.”
Muru Rajah
© ISO
Nicholas A. Sabatini
Anil Wats, DP World Executive
Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer, had this comment : “As a leading marine terminal operator with the
widest global network, it is important
for us to attain the ISO/PAS 28000:2005
standard to reflect our commitment to
providing quality services to our customers, as well as helping secure the
international supply chain.
Moving from aviation to the
maritime sector, DP World is the first
global marine terminal operator to have
achieved certification, in September
2006, to ISO/PAS 28000:2005, Specification for security management systems for the supply chain. The certification covers both corporate headquarters in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and the DP World-managed Djibouti Container Terminal.
DP World, which is wholly
owned by the Government of Dubai,
aims to roll out ISO/PAS 28000
throughout its global network, spanning 51 terminals in 24 countries on
five continents and employing around
34 000 people.
“ In a changing legislative and
regulatory environment, ISO/PAS
28000 provides the benefit of consistent security standards that are internationally recognized.”
In complete contrast in terms
of size, Bramfood Manufacturers and
Distributors, a Canadian small business
employing 20 people, is believed to
have become, on 25 September 2006,
the first North American company to
be certified to ISO 22000:2005, Food
safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food
chain.
Commenting on the achievements of the three organizations, ISO
Secretary-General Alan Bryden said :
“ Ensuring the global relevance of
ISO standards is one of our strategic
objectives and, in addition, the World
Standards Day 2006 message on 14
October emphasized that international
standards need to provide benefits for
small businesses as they do for global
enterprises, governments and society at
large. As these recent examples show,
ISO is achieving its strategic goal, as
well as delivering on its promises to
stakeholders.”
ISO Focus November 2006
47
New on
The next
chart-topping CD –
The IT Security
Standards Collection
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis,
Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus,
ISO Central Secretariat
T
he principal ISO and IEC standards for information technology
(IT) security are now available
for the first time as a collection on a
single CD-ROM.
It provides users with a onestop access to the most important IT
security standards – from evaluating,
and implementing to maintaining and
managing information security in any
organization producing and using information in any form.
The much-awaited CD-ROM is
the result of a successful collaboration
between IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and ISO.
Increasingly, organizations and
their information systems and networks are faced with a variety of security threats from a number of sources, including computer-assisted fraud,
espionage, sabotage, vandalism, fire or
flood. Sources of damage, such as computer viruses, computer hacking and
denial of service attacks, have become
more common, more ambitious and
increasingly sophisticated.
“ There is no doubt that the
protection of our information in systems and over networks is a critical
business issue that needs immediate
and ongoing attention,” says Ted Humphreys, Convenor of working group
WG 1, Requirements, services and
guidelines, one of three WGs within
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27. “ Information
has become one of the critical commodities in today’s fast moving e-biz
world.”
This collection of ISO/IEC standards on CD-ROM contains the full text
and illustrations of the most important
ISO/IEC standards in IT security to
48
ISO Focus November 2006
the shelf
provide the user with a complete practical reference.
It will help and guide management at all levels, and technical authorities, to what the issues are, how they
can assess the levels of risk they face,
and what they can do to manage the
risks to minimize any potential damage or loss to their business information and system resources.
The CD-ROM is the first in a
new product family underway called
the “ JTC 1 Collection ”, that will feature collections of IT standards for the
other sectors addressed by ISO and
IEC Joint technical committee JTC 1,
Information technology.
The JTC 1 Collection – IT Security CD-ROM is available from ISO
national member institutes and ISO Central Secretariat (sales@iso.org).
New handbook
on piston rings and
pins
T
oday, piston rings and pins have
to perform roles and functions
that are more and more demanding. They have increasingly sophisticated applications and capabilities. Quality has become a key factor and International Standards are there to see that
quality is applied.
The newly published ISO Standards Handbook for Piston Rings and
Pins gathers together into one convenient volume 17 International Standards,
and one Draft International Standard –
based on the collective expertise of industry specialists worldwide.
Piston rings are critical to the performance and durability of the internal
combustion engine. As engine output
and thermal load increase, and emissions regulations become more strin-
gent, demand for stable sealing, longer
lifetimes, low oil consumption and minimum blow-by values becomes greater.
To meet this demand, ongoing worldwide development efforts have been
undertaken to improve base materials,
coatings and design features.
“ In order to better answer the
industry’s needs, the ISO Handbook gives
the user as complete a collection as possible of all the information required about
the key standards in a convenient, easyto-reference form,” says Johannes Esser,
Chair of ISO technical committee ISO/
TC 22, Road vehicles, working group
WG 1, Piston Rings, and Director Engineering, Rings & Liners Global, Federal
Mogul Corporation. “ It is an indispensable tool for those working in the internal
combustion engine industry.”
The Handbook covers the whole
spectrum of subjects for piston rings and
pins – from definitions, general requirements, dimensions and design. It contains the full text and illustrations of the
most important ISO standards in the field
concerned, to help users increase their
knowledge of the state-of-the-art technology available.
As an added bonus, the Handbook
is available as a combined paper and
CD-ROM, giving good value for money.
The CD-ROM includes the same information as the paper version in retrievable electronic form through easy-to-use
search functions.
The ISO Standards Handbook for
Piston Rings and Pins (English only) costs
114 Swiss francs and is available from
ISO national member institutes and ISO
Central Secretariat (sales@iso.org). The
standards in the Handbook are the work
of ISO technical
committee ISO/
TC 22, Road
vehicles.
Coming up
Developments and
Initiatives
Consumer participation in
standardization
© ISO
The ISO Committee on consumer policy
(COPOLCO) and the ISO Committee on
developing country matters (DEVCO)
jointly organized a training seminar
in Gaborone, Botswana, to enhance
consumer participation in standards
development.
Main Focus
Fuelling the future
At a time when the projected availability of oil reserves can be measured
in decades, and with the vulnerability
to any potential external disruption in
its supplies, the international community is exploring alternative energy
options. Furthermore, given environmental concerns and related international commitments (such as the Kyoto
Protocol), encouraging energy conservation among consumers is often
advocated as a cheaper or more environmentally sensitive alternative to
increased energy production.
To this end, the joint December 2006/
January 2007 issue of ISO Focus
explores areas of alternatives likely to
provide practical solutions and identifies opportunities for standardization.
The issue will look at hydrogen, wind,
and solar energy, including the viability of biofuels as potential substitutes
for at least a part of the world’s dwindling petrol supplies. It will weigh
up arguments for and against different energy sources, assess their effect
on the environment and consider viable options.
Buildings consume considerable
resources in all economies, both to
build and to operate and use, which
lead to global warming and an upset
of the fragile balance in nature. The
coming issue examines this complex
and vast industry and how important
it is to incorporate sustainable building principles from the initial planning
and designing stages that will last well
beyond the end of the process. It will
also look at the design of energy-efficient buildings, which minimize their
impact on the external environment
whilst providing safe and comfortable indoor environments.
Participants in the COPOLCO/DEVCO training
workshop in Gaborone, Botswana.
To find out more, read the highlights
of the workshop, which aimed to help
national standards bodies and consumer associations to work together
more effectively. The workshop also
The issue will also include a portfolio
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