April 24, 2003 -- The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued the first international safety standard for printing press systems - ISO 12648:2003 Graphic technology — Safety requirements for printing press systems. The standard was developed by ISO Technical Committee 130 (TC 130) Working Group 5 (Safety and Ergonomics). The committee is administered by NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, with NPES Vice President William K. Kip Smythe and Director of Standards Programs Mary Abbott serving as Convener and Secretary, respectively. Actively participating in the work were experts from Brazil, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and United States. The development of this International Standard represents a significant cooperative effort to define a single safety standard that can be used by equipment designers that will help to minimize the number of "special" designs a manufacturer must provide in order to meet safety requirements of the international market to which they sell, while providing the highest level of safety for the print production environment. Where known differences in national laws require variances in the standard, those differences are noted. It is expected that this standard will be revised to address new safety issues as they are identified, and to address developments in technology, as needed. The goal is to eventually have a single safety standard for printing press systems that can be applied by manufacturers and users around the world. ISO 12648 is available for purchase from the NPES Publications Department in electronic or hard format for $121. Contact the Publications Department at 703/264-7200 or log onto the NPES web site at www.npes.org and click on Publications for an order form. B65.1-1995 Safety standard – Printing press systems is currently being revised to incorporate much of the ISO work, as well as to maintain U.S.-specific requirements, such as the requirement for a stop/safe pushbutton that allows the use of the OSHA-recognized inch-safe-service method as an alternative to lockout/tagout for routine, repetitive tasks during normal production. Machines installed in the United States should continue to use the B65.1 standard. ISO TC 130 WG5 is nearing completion of work on ISO 12649 Graphic technology — Safety requirements for binding and finishing systems and equipment, which is expected to be issued later this year. A task force of Working Group 5 is developing ISO 15847 Graphical symbols for printing press systems and finishing systems, including related auxiliary equipment, which is expected to be completed next year. In addition to ISO TC 130 WG 5, NPES also administers the work of ISO TC 130 WG2 (Prepress data exchange), the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO TC 130, and two committees accredited by the American National Standards Institute: B65 Committee (safety standards) and the Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (technical standards). For more information about the work of these organizations, visit the Standards Work Room on the NPES web site at www.npes.org/standards/workroom.html.