At its September 2011 meeting, the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Management Board (TMB) moved to initiate the revision of
ISO/IEC Guide 50:2002 -
Safety aspects - Guidelines for child safety, published by ISO and the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). As a member of the ISO TMB, the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) initiated a call for U.S. experts to serve on the ISO/IEC COPOLCO Joint Working Group (JWG) 2 tasked with the revision work [
see related news item].
ANSI is now seeking additional participation from U.S. experts to serve on a U.S. Virtual Technical Advisory Group (VTAG) to ISO/IEC COPOLCO JWG 2. | | ISO/IEC Guide 50: Basics
ISO/IEC Guide 50 provides a framework for addressing potential sources of unintentional hazards to which children might be exposed during their use of, or interaction with, a product, service, or system. This includes information on the general approach to child safety, including specific developmental characteristics of children that place them at a particular risk of injury. The guide is primarily intended for those involved in the preparation and revision of standards that will be used by product designers, architects, manufacturers, service providers, communicators, and policy makers in a way to minimize possible injury to children, and is designed to be used in conjunction with ISO/IEC Guide 51, Safety aspects — Guidelines for their inclusion in standards. Revisions to ISO/IEC Guide 50 would update the current edition, which was published in 2002 by the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Advisory Group (JTAG) for Child Safety. ISO/IEC Guide 50 was originally published in 1987. | |
With a project leader now in place and ISO member country experts selected, JWG2 is now ready to begin work on revising ISO/IEC Guide 50. The U.S. VTAG will serve as a sounding board for U.S. experts and help provide insight on matters being dealt with at the international level as this critical document is updated. ANSI operates VTAGs via teleconference and webinar, so no travel is required and all interested U.S. stakeholders are strongly encouraged to participate. The two U.S. experts approved for participation in ISO/IEC COPOLCO JWG 2 are Alan Kaufman of the Toy Industry Association, Inc., and Gene Rider of Intertek Consumer Goods North America. In this capacity, they will also serve as co-chairs of the U.S. VTAG. Individuals interested in participating in the U.S. VTAG should contact Karen Hughes (
[email protected])
by close of business on Friday, July 6. The first virtual meeting will be held sometime prior to the ISO/IEC COPOLCO JWG 2 meeting on September 12-13, 2012; a meeting notice, agenda, and further details are forthcoming.
