Page 61 - 2018Fall

dards, but, rather, it accredits standards developing organizations (SDOs) and approves standards developed by these SDOs as American National Standards (ANS). ANSI also serves as the US na- tional body, representing and coordi- nating US positions and interests in international standards development to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Inter- national Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). More information is available at https://www.ansi.org/.
The US standards development system
is based on voluntary standards de-
veloped by subject matter experts in a
formal, open, consensus-based process.
The voluntary consensus process is
open to all affected parties from both the public and private sectors and relies on cooperation and compromise among a diverse range of stakeholders. Because due process is fol- lowed, the resulting standards yield equitable benefits to many rather than to a select few (American National Stan- dards Institute, 2016).
ASA Standards
ASA Standards is an ANSI-accredited SDO that develops standards in acoustics. ASA Standards administers the de- velopment of and publishes ANSI-approved, voluntary con- sensus standards. For international standards liaison, ASA Standards also administers Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) to the ISO and IEC that provide US stakeholders with access to international standards development. A dia- gram of the ASA Standards Program is shown in Figure 2.
The ASA Committee on Standards (ASACOS) is the body within ASA that governs policy, financing, and program oversight. It is chaired by the standards director and meets twice a year. Its principal responsibilities are to make rec- ommendations to the ASA Executive Council regarding the Standards Program and its financing, operation, and appointments and to oversee the functioning of the Secre- tariat, which is the group responsible for oversight and orga- nization of all operational standards activities. For the ASA, this is role is fulfilled by the standards manager.
The ASACOS Steering Committee handles procedural mat- ters. The chairs and vice chairs of the standards committees
Figure 2. Groups and subgroups comprising the ASA Standards Program. See text for ab- breviations.
(see below), the chairs of the US ISO/IEC TAGs, and rep- resentatives from each of the 13 ASA technical committees (TCs) are all voting members of ASACOS.
Currently, the ASA has four standards committees in the areas of noise (ASC S12), acoustics (ASC S1), mechanical vibration and shock (ASC S2), and bioacoustics (ASC S3, which also includes a subcommittee on animal bioacoustics (ASC S3/SC 1).
The organizational members of the standards committees are companies, organizations, trade associations, governmental agencies, or other groups that have identified themselves as having a direct and material interest in the work of a partic- ular committee. These entities apply for membership in the committee and pay an annual participation fee. The organi- zational members can appoint a voting representative to each committee they join. There are no restrictions on membership aside from direct and material interest in the work of the com- mittee and the willingness to participate. Current ASA Stan- dards member organizations are listed on the ASA Standards website available at http://acousticstoday.org/smembers.
Working groups (WGs) within each committee draft stan- dards and technical reports, make recommendations regard- ing the maintenance of existing standards, and assist in resolv- ing comments on draft standards documents. WG members are not required to be members of the committee or the ASA, and there is no fee to participate. WG members volunteer their time and expertise to develop standards within their scope. WG chairs are appointed by the standards committee chair.
Fall 2017 | Acoustics Today | 59