During this year our Central Technical Board kept to the guidelines suggested by the President’s Committee, set up the year before: special attention was given to the standards on personal health and safety, with a view to better coordinating the initiatives in progress and new work item proposals.
This resulted in the setting up of SICURIS, an advisory board, in charge of analysing and working out normative proposals in the field of health and safety and of coordinating the relevant UNI activities, while defining the tasks for the technical bodies concerned.
Moreover, the analysis of future strategies led to the creation of the new commission on “Tourism”, as outcome of the pre-normative activity made in co-operation with the Italian Touring Club and CNEL: this commission is also expected to act as mirror body to the international works of ISO/TC 228 and to start new drafts of national relevance.
This new activity will also involve the State Region Conference, which guarantees the participation of public administration in national standards-making works.
Finally, the number of national new work item proposals and the adoption of ISO standards remarkably increased during this year: this is due to a greater participation of our technical commissions and associated bodies in the assessment of the actual need for new standards and of their potential distribution in the market. FOCUS ON…
The main technical issues covered in 2006 are herein summarized for each of the four sectors our Technical Area is divided into. | CONSUMER GOODS AND MATERIALS |
 Food, consumer goods, leisure time and health
During 2006 it was necessary to revise the structure of our “Agro-food” commission and this was also due to the several european and international activities that affected the standards-making works in this field. In particular, many EN ISO technical standards on microbiological analysis were published and later adopted in communitary regulations. Moreover, the technical content of the draft standard ISO 22005 on traceability was finalised, within ISO/TC 34 “Food products”, whose secretariat is run by UNI.
At national level the study for a UNI standard covering manufacturing integrated systems in food chain was completed, and the subcommittee “External catering” was set up, while opening a new standards-making sector.
During this year the main technical standards on the safety of fitness and playground equipment (UNI EN 957 and its parts), including those for training centres, were updated.
CEN/TC 333 “Cycles”, whose secretariat is run by Italy, completed the first work items of the future technical standards on the safety of bicycles: the EN 14764 on city and trekking bicycles, the EN 14765 on bicycles for young children, the EN 14766 on mountain bikes and the EN 14781 on racing bicycles were adopted. The european standards on children playgrounds (UNI EN 1176) are still being revised.
The “Sport and leisure plants and equipment” commission published the new edition of the standard UNI 10637 “Requirements for swimming pool water circulation, treatment, disinfection and quality”, which is now a basic reference for this sector and is quoted in some regional laws. The first series of the european technical standards EN 13200 covering requirements and design characteristics for spectator facilities, to be used in fixed or temporary areas, such as sport grounds, indoor stadiums, indoor and outdoor facilities, were adopted at national level: this set of standards was worked out with the purpose of laying out general design criteria for spectator facilities (fixed, mobile, to be dismantled, telescopic), in order to guarantee their practical aspects and improve the building of modern and innovative sport and leisure facilities.
As to the textile sector, the UNI EN 13578-2 on the marking of solar UV protective apparel was adopted.
In the field of furniture, two important european standards, especially for childhood and school, were published: the UNI EN 1729, setting out dimensions, safety requirements and test methods for chairs and tables for educational institutions, from primary to high schools, and the UNI EN 14988, which covers safety requirements of any kind of high chairs for children from 6 to 36 months, used both at home and in nurseries, hotels, restaurants etc.
The year 2006 was also marked by the revision of the standards on medical gas pipeline systems, on vacuum and components (series UNI EN 737, 738 and 739), whose drafting was moved to ISO with the purpose of turning european standards into international ones. The UNI “Anaesthetic and respiratory equipment” subcommittee actively took part in the drafting of new ISO standards, thus affecting the works being carried out by international technical bodies. Also the standard UNI EN 14931 on pressure chamber systems for hyperbaric, and in particular, oxygen therapy was adopted and published. With regard to sterilization, the main european standards were reviewed and the revision procedure of the EN 285 on steam sterilizers was completed. The draft standard ISO 14971 on the risk management for medical devices got to the last voting stage: at national level this activity is dealt with by the “Quality systems for medical devices” subcommittee of the “Biomedical and diagnostic technologies” commission.
Materials; paper, rubber, leather, wood and nanotechnologies
The “Paper” commission adopted the revised version of the UNI EN 646, which reports the procedures to be used in testing coloured paper and board intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. With regard to the strictly national activity, a new version of the UNI 6493 determining the surface strength of paper and board was revised and published. Finally, the EN ISO 12625-8 describing the test method for the water-absorption time and capacity of papers and tissues for home and hygienic-sanitary purposes was implemented.
The updated versions of the european standards issued by CEN/TC 208 covering elastomeric seals for pipe joint seals used in water and drainage applications (UNI EN 681-1), and the seals used in pipes and fittings carrying gas and hydrocarbon fluids (UNI EN 682) were published. At national level the new version of the standard UNI 8921 fixing the test method for the determination of flex fatigue resistance of soling materials was published.
The “Leather and leather goods” commission, in cooperation with the “Environment” commission, issued an innovative and fully new document: it is the UNI/TR 11181 “Leather - Guidance for product environmental balance of finished leathers”, which contains the information that any tannery should include in its environmental balance in order to identify the environmental impact at each processing stage.
In the wood sector, the new topic is the reactivation of the working group “Wood treatment”, whose mission is working out the guidelines for the use of european standards issued by the CEN/TC 38 “Durability of wood and derived materials”, thus helping Italian enterprises better move in the complicated normative system expected to comply with the application of the EC/8/98 European Directive.
Several were the technical standards published in the chemical sector (test methods, characteristics of different materials such as bitumen, paints and varnishes, oil products, surface active agents, adhesives), among which the adoption of some european standards on chemical products used for swimming pool water treatment is worth mentioning.
In 2006 our Central Technical Board decided to set up a new commission, called “Nanotechnologies”. Its aim is to cover any standards-making activity in the field of macro- and nanotechnologies, with special regard to classification, terminology and nomenclature, metrology and measuring devices, the reference of sampling and measuring methods, methods of characterization and all those issues related to health, environmental safety and the definition of manufacturing processes. Moreover, this commission intends to examine methods for assessing products, devices and systems using materials with micro and nano-technological characteristics and their application in the field of medical technologies.
This commission set up, in its turn, some important working groups: Terminology; Measurement, instruments and Characterization; Health, safety and environmental aspects; Nano-technological products and processes. Products and structures
At european level, there are more than 300 harmonized standards in compliance with the 89/106 Directive and 65 out of these made CE marking compulsory in 2006. The main product families concerned cover darkening closures for buildings, water proof sheets, structural bearings, geosynthetics, coating materials for exterior masonry, fixed fire-fighting systems, sanitary appliances, glass in building, floor covering, floor and ceiling finishing materials.
Its national activity was mainly focused on the development of guidelines for design, execution and maintenance of stone and tile floor coatings, and on the preparation of new drafts on the qualification of workers concerned with the layout of continuous and discontinuous roofing. With a view to defining a new product family, we remind the development of three new national draft standards covering photo-catalyst materials, with the purpose of reducing pollution.
Finally, the works relating to the revision of UNI 7697 on the safety criteria of glazing applications came to an end: such a revision was needed because of the changes introduced in the legislative framework, which makes the market longing for it.
By the publication of the last part of the Eurocode 2 (Part 3 on the design of tanks and concrete containment structures) in 2006, all the ENV versions of Eurocodes were turned into official european standards (EN), except for the Eurocode 9 on aluminium structures (the relevant text has just been submitted to formal vote), while already available are the nine parts of the Eurocode 1 on structures, the two parts of the Eurocodes 2, 5 and 6, respectively on concrete, wood and masonry structures, the seventeen parts of the Eurocodes 3 and 4 on steel and joint steel-concrete structures, as well as the five parts of the Eurocode 8 on the design of structures for earthquake resistance and the seven parts on the design of fire-resistant structures.
A package of more than 50 documents is now available to designers who intend to combine calculations with a performance-oriented, efficient and modern approach, based on wellgrounded scientific experiences, arising interest even beyond european borders.
Considering the complexity of these issues, several initiatives have been undertaken so far for promoting the interpretation and the dissemination of Eurocodes in time for the deadline of 2010 (which is the end of the transition period between national regulations and Eurocodes) and UNI is already proactive in this concern, by starting up several training programmes.
Nevertheless, we have always to bear in mind that national authorities are the ones entitled to define the level of safety in the domestic context, because harmonised standards do not contain compulsory fixed limits on product performances and the safety coefficients mentioned in Eurocodes are just recommendations.
It is worth mentioning that the role of UNI Construction Committee, the board in charge of leading and coordinating normative policies and strategies in this sector, was fully appreciated and recognised both by industry and public authorities, because it is able to represent all the parties involved and, at the same time, to provide for the consensusbuilding among all the positions taken at the different stages of the process aimed at the definition of common and shared rules. Plants
The full set of existing standards in this field was submitted to a comprehensive revision process, with special regard to the ones covering screw plugs for wired hose fittings used for fire fighting equipment. The purpose of such a process was that of introducing updated normative references on materials and of completing the indications on test methods. The series of ISO 14520 standard (12 parts) concerning physical properties and system design of gaseous fire-extinguishing systems was fully adopted.
In the framework of design, installation and maintenance of fire fighting equipment, the revision of the UNI 10779 on hydrant systems was concluded and it is now expected to be submitted to public enquiry, a stage that the document on the initial check and maintenance of fire alert systems has already concluded.
A new work item proposal on the manufacturing and functional characteristics of the rooms designed for hosting pumping units of fire fighting equipment has just been launched.
482 are the new standards published in 2006 in the plant and equipment sector: 31 cover the general criteria for equipment design, execution, installation and maintenance, 100 are on devices and tools, 87 on components, while the other ones are about general issues, somehow pertaining to the legal context, such as hydro-sanitary, gas, fire fighting, lifting, heating and air-conditioning systems. In particular, the UNI 10412-1 covering the specific safety requirements for heating systems provided with either electrical heat generators or burning solid, liquid or gaseous fuels was published, while the revision of the standard UNI 8364 was completed: this standard supplies guidelines for the operation, checking and maintenance of hot water systems provided with either electrical heat generators or burning solid, liquid or gaseous fuels with a heating power over than 35Kw.
As to gas systems, the new edition of the UNI 9860 on design, construction, testing, operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of gas service pipes was published, while the UNI 7129 was revised and its new edition is expected to be subdivided into four parts. As to water systems, the revision of the UNI 9182 concerning design, testing and running of cold and hot water supply and distribution started, with the purpose of having it aligned with the standards of the EN 806 series relating to the specifications on indoor installations for the transportation of water for human consumption. Services
The most significant event was the setting up of the “Tourism” commission, grouping all the main stakeholders of a strategic field, being one of the most profit-bearing in our country. The first step made by this commission was the appointment of a very numerous italian delegation who actively participated in the meeting of the technical committee ISO/TC 228 “Tourism and related services”.
This is not, however, the only fact to be mentioned in this field. As to services, the UNI 11200 laying out the main service requirements for call/contact centers was published, with the purpose of assuring a high quality level of the service itself, regardless of the pattern of organization or technology used. The standards-making activity on the same issue started also at european level, covered by the task force CEN/TF 182, with dutch secretariat and italian chairmanship: the goal is that of getting to a single standard, to be used all over Europe.
Work went on in activities already in progress, such as management consultancy and logistics, while the standard ISO 20252 on market surveys was published and is being implemented as UNI; the same is for the EN 15308 on translation services. It was also necessary to update the UNI 10574 on the definition of service and activities of interpreting enterprises: it was actually decided to remove from this standard the part concerning translating enterprises, which are now covered by the new UNI EN 15308.
More other european standards were adopted in 2006: on recreational diving services (EN 14467 and EN 14413 Parts 1 and 2), and on funeral services (EN 15017).
CEN/TC 319 “Maintenance” - whose secretariat is allocated to UNI - submitted the prEN 15431 on maintenance performance indicators to formal vote, and it was unanimously approved, without comments. At national level, four drafts were published or updated, representing a good basis for 14 more final publications expected in 2007. The “Maintenance” commission acts as a mirror group to the CEN technical committee 348 “Facility Management”, which published its first two standards (EN 15221-1 and 2) in 2006, regarding, respectively, terminology and criteria for facility management agreements, and set up new working groups in charge of performance indicators, processes and taxonomy. Organization and environment management
The ISO working group on “Social Responsibility”, in which a numerous italian delegation takes part, issued the first draft of the future ISO 26000 on principles and guidelines for social responsibility.
The publication of the three parts of the UNI ISO 14064 and the draft ISO/DIS 14065 contributed to the progress of the international activity aimed at supplying measuring and validation tools for greenhouse gas emissions, likely in support of the implementation of Kyoto protocol and/or other projects focused on the reduction of such emissions. A specific group of the UNI “Environment” commission is directly concerned with this and proposed, supported by the Ministry of the Environment, to work out a technical report on the possible correlation between ISO standards and communitary legislation.
In the framework of the approval and implementation of the ISO/IEC 17000 standards on the first, second and third party conformity assessment - which superseded the EN 45000 - the standard UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17021 covering the requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems, was published and superseded the UNI CEN EN 45012.
Some new standards of the ISO 10000 series on the quality techniques, including the UNI ISO 10002 on complaints handling, and some sector guides of the ISO 9001 and 9004, including the UNI 11219 for the application in farms, were published in 2006.
At international level, the ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 were submitted to a review in order to define the draft provisions for new future standards.
The ISO/IEC 27001 concerning the management systems applied to the safety of information was also published.
The UNI draft standard 11230 on risk management is now at the public enquiry stage, while the specific UNI mirror group is actively taking part in the international works dedicated to the draft ISO 31000, which will be a guide on the principles and the application of risk management. Anyway, these standards are not supposed to supply a new management system. Safety
The UNI 11222 on safety lighting installations in building was published with the aim of improving the use of this kind of installations, while laying out the procedures for periodic inspection, maintenance, revision and testing. These are issues of utmost importance, especially to guarantee the working efficiency of safety devices, which are fundamental in case of emergency, also for the safety at the workplace. Documentation and information magagement
It is worth highlighting that three very important documents were published: one is the adoption of the ISO 15489-1 on records management, another is the UNI TS 11192 on the classification criteria of product technical documentation designed for users, and the third is the UNI ISO 704 on principles and methods of terminological works. Quite important is also the updating of UNI 10607 (expected to be published in 2007) on traffic telematics and road transport, with special regard to automatic dynamic payment systems and automatic access control systems using dedicated short-range communication at 5,8 GHz. The adoption of the ISO IEC 9126-1 “Software engineering - Product quality - Part 1: Quality model” is being adopted, while 33 more standards in the ICT sector were adopted in 2006. Machineries, lifts and pressure equipment
The “Lifts” commission devoted many resources to updating the application criteria of the UNI EN 81-80 on the safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts designed for people and goods, taking account of the expertise gained in these years. In the same way, this commission committed itself in updating the relevant interpretations in support of the application of such UNI standards. During this year, the standards published in support of PED are over 650 and are followed by several technical commissions and some associated bodies belonging to different UNI departments. Transport
The family of standards covering vehicles fueled by liquefied petroleum gas is enlarging. During 2006, as to engine-mounted gas equipment, a standard covering components was drafted, in addition to those on installation requirements and instruction manuals and one regarding tank requirements, while, as to gas stations, two are the standards, respectively on fuel pumps and on fuel guns.
In the railway sector, an important standard, the UNI 1168-1, was drafted: it is about the design criteria for metropolitan railways in order to make them more accessible to mass transit systems. Accessibility criteria, which is an issue subject to several laws and voluntary technical standards, are actually the main focus of this sector, because of the need for an increasing use of public transports among people, including the disabled ones. The UNI 11168-1 supplies the design criteria - for new systems and for the ones being renovated - for those components needed to guarantee a wider accessibility and use of transport systems and related services, in an urban, suburban and regional context. Acoustics and vibrations
In 2006 the “Acoustics” commission committed in the activity in support of the application of the 2002/49/EC directive on the determination and management of environmental noise. For this reason some international standards mentioned in this directive were adopted in italian, i.e. UNI ISO 9613 “Acoustics - Attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors - Part 1: General calculation method”, setting out the methods to estimate the outdoor noise reduction, with the purpose of evaluating the level of environmental noise in places far from noise sources. Moreover, it is worth mentioning the activity carried out by the group on strategic acoustic mapping which concluded the work on the draft standard “Acoustics - Procedure of conversion of daily and nightly LAeQ values and of LVA in Lden and Lnight descriptors” approved in December 2006.
The implementation of this directive introduced two more new descriptors which are different from the ones contained in the previous legislation. Their use and the relevant metrological procedures mark a difference compared with the testing techniques, which may be hopefully reduced if applying to harmonising procedures.
The latter could also be used on the remarkable number of data on environmental noise collected so far and which may be in compliance with these new descriptors.
Finally, the Law 187/2005 (implementing the 2002/44/EC directive on health and safety essential requirements of workers exposed to mechanical vibrations) was focused on the need of protection from this damaging physical phenomenon. The standards-making activity was accordingly developed and this led to the publication of the UNI EN 14253 “Mechanical vibration - Measurement and calculation of occupational exposure to wholebody vibration with reference to health - Practical guidance“.
The professional exposure to whole-body vibrations, in some cases, can cause diseases: the general requirements for measuring and calculating this kind of vibrations are specified in ISO 2631-1, being adopted at national level and translated into italian. |
