PAS 13, Code of practice for safety barriers used in traffic management within workplace environments with test methods for safety barrier impact resilience, publishes this month. Health and safety statistics show that approximately 50 people are killed each year and more than 5,000 injured in accidents involving workplace transport. Each workplace is unique and likely to present different hazards and risks. However, a well-designed and maintained workplace with proper segregation of vehicles and people will experience fewer workplace accidents.
The most effective way of ensuring pedestrians and vehicles move safely around a workplace is to provide separate pedestrian and vehicle traffic routes and, where necessary, implement barriers, rails and signage to prevent pedestrians crossing at dangerous places and to direct them to safer crossing points.
PAS 13 outlines the current good practice traffic management procedures for a workplace and provides a standard for the safety barriers within them. It gives recommendations for the impact resilience, dimensions and positions of safety barriers in the workplace, and guidance on how to manage the risks associated with vehicles within the workplace, and gives the criteria for testing the impact resilience of a barrier. The code of practice is of use to any person with a health and safety focus, especially where moving vehicles or the protection of personnel, equipment and vital structures is concerned.
BSI invites comment on the following:
Internet of Things specification available for comment at end of November
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing network of connecting devices with the potential to transform how we all live and work. Billions of devices are forecast to be part of the IoT within the next decade. For the IoT to realize its potential, software interfaces need to be standardized so that they do not have to be written and re-written for each new application or service they need to support.
PAS 212, Automatic resource discovery for the Internet of Things – Specification, has been developed as part of the HyperCat Consortium – a consortium of 40 government-backed companies including BT, IBM, UK startups, SMEs, universities and local authorities. The specification aims to help software engineers for IoT define a simple, lightweight and standardized method whereby publishers can advertise their resources and subscribers can automatically discover and “understand” these resources.
It applies to the design of services for the IoT and the World Wide Web in general, and in particular to the design of applications intended to operate within broad ecosystems such as Smart Cities, as well as specific industry sectors. The public comment period will commence at the end of November.
The public consultation stage lasts one month and is undertaken through an online forum open to anyone who chooses to register an interest (http://drafts.bsigroup.com). Members of relevant BSI technical committees and a wider review panel of relevant organizations and individuals are encouraged to review and comment on the draft. Following the public consultation the steering group meet to discuss each comment and agree resolutions. The consultation is seen as a vital stage in validating the draft and therefore a major factor in establishing the authority and credibility of the published PAS.