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Industry Standards
Industry Standards
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One of the best tools technical personnel have available are specifications, codes, and technical standards or, as they are sometimes called, “advisories” or “recommendations.” I will refer to them collectively as standards and there are hundreds in use today. They serve as an established norm or requirement in regard to technical systems, equipment, and/or materials. Standards may be developed privately or unilaterally, by a corporation, regulatory body, military, and so on. They can also be developed by groups such as trade unions or standards organizations. They are prepared in draft form initially, reviewed by an oversight committee, revised, and then published as a formal document. They must be revised and updated periodically. Standards present established uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, calculation procedure, test, calibration, processes, or practices. Standards serve as: • An aid to procurement of standardized equipment and materials. • A primary standard usually under the jurisdiction of a national standards body. • A reference in a metrology system for traceability and paper trail of calibrations back to a standard or reference. • Mandatory regulations if adopted by a government or incorporated in a business contract.
A “standards organization” I am most familiar with is The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The organization wrote the famous Boiler and Pressure Code in 1911 in order to protect the public. After the conception of the steam engine in the late 18th century, there were thousands of deaths attributed to boiler explosions. So a group of volunteers formed a committee and used their expertise to develop the code with rules for design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers, piping, and other pressure vessels. Another ASME standard that I am familiar with is titled Safety Standard for Mechanical Power Transmission Apparatus, originally drafted back in 1927. The stated the purpose of the standard “is to provide guidance for minimizing the likelihood that people will incur injury when in the proximity of mechanical power transmission apparatus.” This standard is written in a “performance” mode rather than a “specification” mode to encourage the appropriate use of ingenuity and imagination in achieving a maximum degree of safeguard. Interestingly, the committee that created the standard consisted of members from insurance companies, Department of the Navy, consultants, the American Society of Safety Engineers, and equipment manufacturers. Does the standard eliminate accidents with power transmission equipment? The answer is no, but it “suggests” ways of avoiding them in most cases. For example, the standard spells out machinery guard dimensions, height of barriers, safety marking means, warning signs, and motion hazard devices. Technical Career Survival Handbook. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809372-6.00068-2 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Technical Career Survival Handbook
A standard that my friends in the electrical department utilize extensively is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) National Electric Code or NFPA 70. This Code has been adopted in all 50 states and serves as a benchmark for safe design, maintenance, inspection, and operation of electrical machinery. It is intended to protect personnel and property from electrical shock and as a potential ignition source of fires and explosions. It also provides guidance on how to minimize the propagation of fire and explosions due to electrical installation hazards associated with electrical energy. The standard consists of three main sections as follows. 1. Safety related work practices: general requirements and safe work practices in an electrically hazardous area. 2. Safety related maintenance requirements: when working with substations, switch gear, motor control centers, wiring, fuses, circuit breakers, batteries, portable electric tools, and equipment. Use of the proper personal protective equipment is addressed. 3. Safety requirements for special equipment: work practices for use of electrolytic cells, batteries, and battery rooms and lasers.
This standard does not include, however, safety related work practices for ships, aircraft, underground mines, railways, communications equipment, and equipment owned or leased by an electric utility company. Finally on this subject of major importance, the Occupational Safety And Health Act (OSHA) became law in 1970. Under this statute, rules are presented to provide a safe and healthful workplace by setting and enforcing standards, education, training, and assistance. Employers must comply with the Act and keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards. I recall that when this Act was passed, it was rumored that considerable emphasis would now be placed on obtaining professional engineer’s licenses as a means to review, approve, and “stamp” design documents, particularly those that pertained to equipment, structures, and facilities that were to be used by the public. More on that subject in Chapter 72. Song: “Safe and Sound” As popularized by: Capital Cities 2011
68
One of the best tools technical personnel have available are specifications, codes, and technical standards or, as they are sometimes called, “advisories” or “recommendations.” I will refer to them collectively as standards and there are hundreds in use today. They serve as an established norm or requirement in regard to technical systems, equipment, and/or materials. Standards may be developed privately or unilaterally, by a corporation, regulatory body, military, and so on. They can also be developed by groups such as trade unions or standards organizations. They are prepared in draft form initially, reviewed by an oversight committee, revised, and then published as a formal document. They must be revised and updated periodically. Standards present established uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, calculation procedure, test, calibration, processes, or practices. Standards serve as: • An aid to procurement of standardized equipment and materials. • A primary standard usually under the jurisdiction of a national standards body. • A reference in a metrology system for traceability and paper trail of calibrations back to a standard or reference. • Mandatory regulations if adopted by a government or incorporated in a business contract.
A “standards organization” I am most familiar with is The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The organization wrote the famous Boiler and Pressure Code in 1911 in order to protect the public. After the conception of the steam engine in the late 18th century, there were thousands of deaths attributed to boiler explosions. So a group of volunteers formed a committee and used their expertise to develop the code with rules for design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers, piping, and other pressure vessels. Another ASME standard that I am familiar with is titled Safety Standard for Mechanical Power Transmission Apparatus, originally drafted back in 1927. The stated the purpose of the standard “is to provide guidance for minimizing the likelihood that people will incur injury when in the proximity of mechanical power transmission apparatus.” This standard is written in a “performance” mode rather than a “specification” mode to encourage the appropriate use of ingenuity and imagination in achieving a maximum degree of safeguard. Interestingly, the committee that created the standard consisted of members from insurance companies, Department of the Navy, consultants, the American Society of Safety Engineers, and equipment manufacturers. Does the standard eliminate accidents with power transmission equipment? The answer is no, but it “suggests” ways of avoiding them in most cases. For example, the standard spells out machinery guard dimensions, height of barriers, safety marking means, warning signs, and motion hazard devices. Technical Career Survival Handbook. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809372-6.00068-2 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
172
Technical Career Survival Handbook
A standard that my friends in the electrical department utilize extensively is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) National Electric Code or NFPA 70. This Code has been adopted in all 50 states and serves as a benchmark for safe design, maintenance, inspection, and operation of electrical machinery. It is intended to protect personnel and property from electrical shock and as a potential ignition source of fires and explosions. It also provides guidance on how to minimize the propagation of fire and explosions due to electrical installation hazards associated with electrical energy. The standard consists of three main sections as follows. 1. Safety related work practices: general requirements and safe work practices in an electrically hazardous area. 2. Safety related maintenance requirements: when working with substations, switch gear, motor control centers, wiring, fuses, circuit breakers, batteries, portable electric tools, and equipment. Use of the proper personal protective equipment is addressed. 3. Safety requirements for special equipment: work practices for use of electrolytic cells, batteries, and battery rooms and lasers.
This standard does not include, however, safety related work practices for ships, aircraft, underground mines, railways, communications equipment, and equipment owned or leased by an electric utility company. Finally on this subject of major importance, the Occupational Safety And Health Act (OSHA) became law in 1970. Under this statute, rules are presented to provide a safe and healthful workplace by setting and enforcing standards, education, training, and assistance. Employers must comply with the Act and keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards. I recall that when this Act was passed, it was rumored that considerable emphasis would now be placed on obtaining professional engineer’s licenses as a means to review, approve, and “stamp” design documents, particularly those that pertained to equipment, structures, and facilities that were to be used by the public. More on that subject in Chapter 72. Song: “Safe and Sound” As popularized by: Capital Cities 2011