IIW White Paper

7.

Legal codes, rules and standardisation

7.1 Introduction This section briefly reviews the current needs of, and challenges for, the global welding community including governments, for improving quality of life through optimum laws, standards, codes of practice, and various scientific and technological data and information. It then proposes strategies to meet these challenges by 2020 and beyond. Before doing so it looks back to look forward – “history is the prologue to the future”. There has been huge progress in welding.

7.2 Background The introduction of any new technology creates change and difficulties that are unexpected. This is seen by Figure 7.1 giving approximate data for boilers and other pressure equipment (PE) and motor vehicles.

6

Figure 7.1 Impact of technology, law and standards (Reproduced courtesy: S. Ambrose)

1 2

5

3

4

4

8000

10

6000

3

5

7

6

4000

2

8

Curve 1 = Road fatalities in Australia 2 = USA & UK PE fatalities 3 = PE safety factors

9

Falalities per year

2000

1 0

Min. Alowable Safety Factor

1800

1900

2000

2100

With boilers, the huge number of explosions, death toll and loss of trade and profit in the mid 1800s resulted in many actions to correct this disaster. These included research and development (R&D), training, laws and appointment of public officials (inspectors) with varying requirements, formation of insurance bodies etc. To avoid the many problems caused by different requirements and of different bodies and inspectors, national technical standards were developed in many technologically developed countries.

Overall, this co-operative effort was hugely beneficial to the world. These laws, practices and standards were then used as models or adopted directly by many other countries. The world has gained from this early work

62

Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies

Improving Global Quality of Life