Did You Know? offers a quick look at the broad scope of activities underway within the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Federation, highlighting the people and initiatives making waves in standardization.
ASHRAE Joins STEM Education Coalition
ASHRAE, an ANSI member and audited designator, has become a member of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition. The STEM Education Coalition is a nonprofit group that works to bolster U.S. global competitiveness and future prosperity by support policies that will improve and expand access to STEM education for U.S. children and young adults. ASHRAE, a member of the group's Leadership Council, will work with other coalition members to support the expansion and improvement of U.S. STEM education through direct advocacy campaigns and grassroots educational initiatives.
Founded in 1894, ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing, and continuing education.
TAG Accreditation to ISO TC 270 Approved
ANSI's Executive Standards Council (ExSC) has officially approved the accreditation of a U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 270, Plastic and rubber machines, which oversees standardization related to machines used to prepare and process plastics and rubber. SPI - The Plastics Industry Trade Association will serve as the TAG administrator for ISO TC 270. For additional information, please contact David Felinski, SPI's standards program coordinator ([email protected]; 832-446-6999).
ID Experts Sponsors Report on Efforts to Safeguard Protected Health Information
ID Experts, an ANSI organizational member, has sponsored a report - the Third Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security - examining steps taken by U.S. healthcare organizations to ensure that their patients' protected health information (PHI) remains confidential and secure. The study was carried out by Ponemon Institute LLC and released Wednesday, December 6, 2012.
According to the report, 94% of surveyed U.S. healthcare organizations had experienced at least one data breach, while 45% reported more than five such breaches in the previous two years. The report found that PHI data breaches are costing the U.S. healthcare industry up to $7 billion per year in related costs.
In March 2012, ANSI's Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel (IDSP) collaborated with The Santa Fe Group/Shared Assessments Program Healthcare Working Group, and the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) to create a special report on PHI security issues [see related article]. Rick Kam of ID Experts was the chairman of the initiative. The report, titled The Financial Impact of Breached Protected Health Information, may be downloaded here at no cost.
Free Android App Gives Access to APA's Wood Products Conformance Reports
APA - The Engineered Wood Association, an ANSI organizational member, has launched a new app for Android mobile phones, allowing building professionals on-the-go access to a database of APA Product Reports covering engineered wood products and their conformance with relevant codes and standards. The free app also connects users with APA's Product Support Help Desk.
The APA Product Reports provide effective assistance to individuals seeking to determine a given product's compliance with national and international standards, as well as building codes; the reports cover wood products, including structural composite lumber (SCL) and oriented strand board (OSB), manufactured as part of an APA-audited quality assurance program. Nearly 15,000 reports have been downloaded from www.apawood.org/productreports during 2012.