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Tag: Safety and Standardization

IEC Suspends IRAN

IEC Suspends IRAN

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Geneva based International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) announced the immediate suspension of the IEC National Committee of Iran.  The suspension applies to the Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) which participates in IEC’s Conformity Assessment Systems.  Iran is the second country to have been suspended by IECEE. The suspension was followed by a strongly worded cautionary statement issued to all IEC member bodies participating in its Conformity Read more […]

Return of Quebec’s Linguistic Roadblocks

Return of Quebec’s Linguistic Roadblocks

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A resurgence of Quebec’s minority government, the Parti Québéco, has resurrected French only language restrictions to a level which has not been seen since the 1980s.  Approval organizations are advising their customers to review the wordings in their labels to comply with Canadian laws and regulations and to seek advice from Canadian legal counsel as to what language(s) is/are required for a specific product.  So far there are no reported instances of manufacturers Read more […]

Shedding Some Light on Consortium Collaboration

Shedding Some Light on Consortium Collaboration

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In October 1879, Thomas Edison perfected a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.  Thus, the incandescent lamp was born.  More than 80 years later, the first practical visible-spectrum (red) light emitting diode (LED) was developed by Nick Holonyak at General Electric Company.  Almost 50 years later, the lighting industry has evolved and added a variety of products to support and improve upon Mr. Edison’s incandescent lamp. Today, NEMA’s Lighting Read more […]

US Participation Needed in Quantum Dot Standards

US Participation Needed in Quantum Dot Standards

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The TC 113 TAG is about to introduce new work proposals for a specification for characterizing luminescent nanoparticles (e.g. Quantum Dots), and a template specification sheet for these nanoscale materials.  QD’s as a game changer in next-generation LED lighting and medical imaging technologies have begun making inroads in the marketplace, so standardized characterization techniques and a template specification are critical to encourage common language communication between nanomaterial Read more […]

Toyota Report Reassuring News for Electrical Industry

Toyota Report Reassuring News for Electrical Industry

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 The NTHSA-NASA report vindicating the electronic systems of Toyota vehicles for sudden acceleration is good news for the wider electrical industry that relies on similar electronic control systems.  NASA was asked to examine the software code of Toyota vehicles and could not produce a fault that could lead to the sudden acceleration reported by owners.  When the vehicle’s electronic system detects a problem it will switch to one of five fail-safe modes: which range from reducing Read more […]

The Meaning of Standard Has Never Been So Significant

The Meaning of Standard Has Never Been So Significant

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Although the development and implementation of standards often goes overlooked their importance has never been greater. Standardization creates similar domestic (and often international) expectations ensuring that the products we buy, the services we receive and the messages we communicate are comparable no matter where we are located. In light of the ever-increasing rate of globalization the importance of comparable standards takes on new significance. Thanks to NEMA the meaning of standard has Read more […]

Kudos to NEMA "flex conduit" groups

Kudos to NEMA "flex conduit" groups

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A new 2010 edition of NEMA RV 3, Application and Installation Guidelines for Liquidtight Flexible Metallic and Nonmetallic Conduits, will be published soon.  Thanks to a joint effort of the NEMA Flexible Metal Conduit Voting Classification and the Polymer Raceway Technical Committee, RV 3, which used to contain only guideline information for LFMC, will now include both LFMC and LFNC.  These two NEMA member groups are to be commended for their work and spirit of cooperation.  Read more […]

RESEARCHERS MISLEADING PUBLIC ON RISKS OF EMF

RESEARCHERS MISLEADING PUBLIC ON RISKS OF EMF

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In a statement issued on 2 June 2010, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has released an updated position statement concluding overall that "the balance of scientific evidence to date still does not indicate that harmful effects occur in humans due to low-level exposure to EMFs."  EMF stands for Electric and Magnetic Fields, which are, as described by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), “invisible lines of force associated with the Read more […]

Everything you wanted to know about Selective Coordination

Everything you wanted to know about Selective Coordination

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Kudos to the Low Voltage Distribution Section of NEMA for producing a comprehensive guide on Selective Coordination.  The 47 page white paper explains the recent changes to the National Electrical Code (NEC) for the design of life safety and other critical power systems.  The goal of Selective Coordination is to isolate a fault circuit while maintaining power to the rest of the electrical distribution system.  In the NEC it applies to elevators, healthcare sytems, emergency systems, Read more […]

Smart Receptacle’s time has come

Smart Receptacle’s time has come

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The High Performance Building is coming along quite well technologically.  New ideas and products show up like mushrooms after the rain.  One product area where we’ll definitively see improvements is the good old receptacle and its matching plug.  In addition to already familiar functions like GFCIs for personal protection we’ve seen recently product proposals offering several additional benefits: Safety Thermal detection would turn off the current when the wire Read more […]