ANSI Highlights Laboratory Decommissioning, Closed Captioning Standards - BSR/AIHA Z9.11, BSR/CEA 608-E

January 13, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Laboratory Decommissioning
When laboratories are vacated, all chemical, radioactive and biological materials, sharps and other wastes must be removed and disposed of properly.

Commonly referred to as decommissioning, this process ensures that the laboratory space is safe for its next use.

BSR/AIHA Z9.11-200x - Laboratory Decommissioning Standard, is a draft standard from ANSI-Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Z9 that provides guidance for the decommissioning of all or parts of laboratory facilities.

The standard offers methodologies to document, monitor and verify the decommissioning process including ways to determine acceptable risk given the facility's intended future use.

The document also identifies stakeholders and their roles, responsibilities and relationships and provides criteria for the development of a decommissioning plan.

ASC Z9 is responsible for the development of health and safety standards for ventilation systems in industrial, manufacturing or construction operations.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) serves as the secretariat for ASC Z9.

Closed Captioning and Other Line 21 Data Services
First used on American television in March 1980, closed captioning became a resource for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or learning a new language.

As video plays on the screen, text captions are displayed that transcribe speech, music and other plot-relevant sounds.

Closed captions are encoded into Line 21 of the vertical blanking interval - a part of the television picture.

Captions may appear in a number of different styles including roll-up or scrolling, most commonly used for live events, and pop-on or block, used for most pretaped television and film programming.

The standard from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) provides a technical guide for using and providing closed captioning and other Line 21 data for the National Television System Committee (NTSC) video signal.

BSR/CEA 608-E-200x - Line 21 Data Services includes a provision for the encoding and decoding equipment that is used to produce Line 21 data as well as information for manufacturers of television receivers.

The document also serves as a usage guide for the production and distribution of closed captioning and other data services.

Source: American National Standards Institute (ANSI).