| USA. ABYC forms project technical committee to investigate people’s use of Boats & accessories |
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| Wednesday, 09 August 2006 | |
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Association news: The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) has announced that it has formed a new project technical committee (PTC) called the “Product Interface Committee.” This committee will be the 18th ABYC PTC, and is charged to identify and address hazard mitigation strategies surrounding the human interface with boats and their associated equipment. “The interface committee will examine the relationship and interactions between people, the machine, the system and the environment, and then will determine if a standard is needed to mitigate risk and potential injury or death,” said John Adey, ABYC’s Technical Director. “If it is determined that there is a need for a standard, then the PTC will move forward and develop one,” Adey confidently added. To site an example, Adey explained that the United States Coast Guard (USCG) is currently exploring the idea of requiring manufacturers to install an engine cutoff device. Currently, no standard exists. In response to this Coast Guard topic, the newly formed committee’s first order of business will be to review engine cutoff devices and if necessary, develop or revise standards to address this issue. Speaking at the grand opening of ABYC’s new headquarters, Jeff Hoedt, Chief of the USCG Office of Boating Safety remarked, “I would like to take this opportunity to publicly recognize and thank ABYC for its recent decision to form a new project technical committee, the Product Interface Committee. This committee will address problems that the Coast Guard has been focusing on, such as falls overboard, propeller injuries and other accidents caused by the interface of humans with machines. We look forward to working with this new committee and are optimistic that ABYC will find this endeavor to be as successful as all of its previous undertakings.” ABYC’s Product Interface Committee is currently also seeking interested technical professionals to participate in the evaluation phase and potential development of this standard. The committee is specifically seeking participants with any of the following areas of expertise or capabilities: occupant protection, human factors design, accident recreation and investigation and hydrodynamics. “The ABYC standards writing process is truly the most dynamic, interactive consensus-based standards development method being used within the marine industry today,” stated Skip Burdon, ABYC’s President. In fact, over 400 volunteers from all fields of the marine industry, as well as United States Coast Guard (USCG) and private boat owners make up the ABYC PTCs, which develop ABYC’s consensus based safety standards. The ABYC Technical Board determines, after an industry review reveals a potential safety problem, that a standard is needed and tasks the appropriate PTC with that particular problem. Once the PTC has studied the problem and developed a draft standard, the PTC is balloted to determine if a consensus has been reached. Concurrently to this vote, the draft is available for public review. ABYC adheres to the guidelines established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which governs most U.S. standards developing organizations. For further information, or to become a member of this committee, please email John Adey, ABYC Technical Director at jadey@abycinc.org. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 August 2006 ) |
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