Standards

ISO/TC 159/SC3 Meeting in Beijing
By Bruce Bradtmiller, Institute Domain Leader

     I recently attended the 19th plenary meeting of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 159 (Ergonomics), Subcommittee 3 (Anthropometry and Biomechanics) in Beijing. The meeting immediately followed the 17th Triennial International Ergonomics Association Congress in August. In addition to conducting the committee's regular work, the delegates heard a presentation by Ken Sagawa (Japan) on the Advisory Group on Accessible Design (AGAD). The AGAD activities are guided by ISO Guide 71, "Guidelines for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities" and the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 9 - Accessibility.

     There are seven distinct ISO TCs working on accessible design issues, of which TC 159 is the most active. ISO Technical Report 22411, "Ergonomics data and guidelines for the application of ISO/IEC Guide 71 to products and services to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities," supplements ISO Guide 71 with ergonomics data and design considerations for the implementation of accessible design. It has some information on reach range and step height (physical strength). Sagawa presented SC3 with a request to review ISO 22411 with an eye toward identifying missing topics or parts that could be fleshed out more completely. Additionally, he requested that SC3 implement accessible design in developing new standards or in revising existing standards by using Guide 71 and TR22411.

     In regular business, the subcommittee voted to proceed with a New Work Item proposal on ISO 7250-1, "Basic human body measurements for technological design - Part 1: Body measurement definitions and landmarks." This revision of the standard will increase the specificity and consistency of the definitions to make them more useful for 3-D anthropometry. It is the centerpiece of all the other SC3 standards and has not been updated since 3-D scanners have become more commonly used. This update will make the standard more broadly applicable and ensure its value in the years to come. I agreed to co-lead the project, along with Yunja Nam (South Korea). Part 2 of the series, "Statistical summaries of body measurements from individual ISO populations," is expected to be published in late 2009, and Part 3, "Worldwide and regional design values for use in ISO equipment standards," is in preparation.

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