ISO Standards Projects are underway to develop safety symbols.
Press Release Summary:
ASABE announces ISO approval of 2 projects to develop international standards for cautionary signs used on slow-moving vehicles (SMV). SMV standard would establish emblem as international symbol for slow-moving vehicles operated on public roads. Although used primarily on agricultural field equipment, it would also be applied to other machines/vehicles that travel at up to 65 kph. Speed identification symbol, used in combination with SMV emblem, would indicate max safe ground speed of equipment.
Original Press Release:
ISO Standards Projects Announced For Safety Symbols
ST JOSEPH, MICHIGAN - The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) announces the approval by members of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) of two new projects to develop international standards for cautionary signs used on slow-moving vehicles.
The proposed standards would provide specifications for the design and display of the slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblem and the speed-identification symbol (SIS).
The SMV standard would establish the emblem as an international symbol for slow-moving machines operated on public roads. The emblem has been familiar in the US since its adoption by ASAE (now ASABE) in 1966. Although used primarily on agricultural field equipment, it would also be applied to other machines or vehicles that travel at speeds up to 65 km/h.
As proposed in the second project, the speed-identification symbol would be used in combination with the SMV emblem on vehicles traveling 40 to 65 km/h, the upper range of SMV speeds. The SIS would indicate the maximum safe ground speed of the equipment to which it is affixed.
The growing, international need for the SMV emblem and SIS is the result of operational and technological evolutions in agriculture. The trend toward larger but often widely dispersed agricultural operations has necessitated greater use of public roads for transporting commodities and equipment among field sites, storage facilities and other locations. Also, whereas the equipment used for such transport traditionally has been capable of traveling only at speeds much lower than those allowed on public roadways, select agricultural vehicles are now being designed for safe operation at somewhat higher speeds, with corresponding braking capacity, for example. The SIS distinguishes such higher-speed equipment.
The projects are being coordinated through ISO's technical committee on tractors, TC 23, under the leadership of ASABE member Douglas Durant, Waterloo, Iowa.
ASABE is the accredited administrator for the US technical advisory group to the ISO committee on Tractors and Machinery for Agriculture and Forestry (TC23), and seven of its subcommittees. Committee membership is open and typically comprises individuals with an academic or commercial interest in the subject matter. Participation in standards development benefits commerce as well as the public by ensuring issues such as consumer safety and evolving technology are addressed in a thorough and timely manner and by reducing trade barriers that can occur in the absence of standardization.
For information on these new standards projects or other ASABE activities in ISO, contact Ted Tees at ASABE, 269 932-7005, ted@asabe.org.
ASABE is recognized worldwide as a standards developing organization for food, agricultural, and biological systems, with more than 225 standards of its own currently in publication. Conformance to ASABE standards is voluntary, except where required by state, provincial, or other governmental requirements. Standards documents are developed by consensus in accordance with procedures approved by the American National Standards Institute. For information on ASABE standards activities, contact Scott Cedarquist at ASABE, 269-932-7031, cedarq@asabe.org. A current listing of all ASABE standards projects can be found on the ASABE web site at http://asabe.org/standards/proposed.html.
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers is an educational and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food, and biological systems. Founded in 1907 and headquartered in St Joseph, Michigan, ASABE comprises nearly 10,000 members from more than 100 countries. For further information about the Society, or for an electronic copy of this news release, contact Dolores Landeck at ASABE, 269-932-7039, landeck@asabe.org.
