ASTM F8.53 Headgear Subcommittee
Unofficial and for members' convenience only
This page is designed to be helpful for F8.53 Subcommittee members, but may also be useful to anyone trying to understand how U.S. voluntary standards for bicycle and other helmets are set. For background info on ASTM, see this section below. Use this link on the ASTM site for a list of standards and work items for our Subcommittee.
Ballot submission deadlines for this round:
- First Subcommittee Ballot: December 1, 2007
- Concurrent/Main Committee ballot: February 5, 2008
- Second Subcommittee ballot: March 15, 2008
To vote on a ballot, go here on the ASTM site and select Members Only
Background on ASTM
The American Society for Testing and Materials, now formally known as ASTM International, is a large and respected international standards-setting institution that sets and maintains standards and test methods for many types of materials and equipment. ASTM is a non-profit organization headquartered near Philadelphia in West Conshohocken, PA. The standards work is divided among hundreds of specialized committees, who meet periodically (ours meets twice a year) to discuss, adopt and update standards. Much of the research and drafting work of our own Subcommittee is undertaken between meetings. The committees are composed of producers, consumer representatives, academics, test labs and others who are active in the related field. ASTM provides the administrative framework and support for the committees, and edits and publishes the adopted standards. Selling those standards provides a large part of ASTM's financial support. For more background please consult the ASTM Web site.
Helmet standards are under the ASTM F8 Committee on Sports Equipment and Facilities, and further assigned to Subcommittee F8.53 on Headgear and Helmets, so the Subcommittee is referred to as F8.53 and pronounced "eff eight dot five three". The Subcommittee has about 140 members, including all of the major U.S. helmet manufacturers and test labs, several Canadian and European manufacturers, a number of academics, some active consumer groups and at least one very helpful lawyer. The Subcommittee is responsible for at least 16 active standards, all of them submitted by ASTM to ANSI for consideration as ANSI national standards. The Subcommittee is chaired by P. David Halstead, former helmet manufacturer and now professor at the University of Tennessee and head of an active testing lab, the Southern Impact Research Center. Vice Chairs are Randy Swart of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute and Dennis Piper of Full 90 Sports, a soccer headgear manufacturer. Dave and Dennis also serve as officers of the F8 Committee. Official minutes are kept by Isabel Wright of Monarch Rubber Company. Our ASTM support is coordinated by Christi Sierk, whose able assistance makes it possible for us to keep up with a very active agenda.
Here is An ASTM Standardization News article on our work.
And here is a very interesting
Letter to the Editor about the article.
If you would like to become active in the standards development process, it is inexpensive and rewarding to work with ASTM. The ASTM website, www.astm.org, has information about membership. You should note that we are in committee F08, Sports Equipment and Facilities, Subcommittee F08.53, Headgear. We would welcome your interest and expertise.
ASTM Staff Addresses on the net
As noted above, the ASTM staffer who attends to the needs of the F8.53 headgear Subcommittee is Christi Sierk (phone: 610-832-9728 or email: csierk@astm.org. Christi took over our Subcommittee in 2007.
ASTM has an extensive and very useful Web site.
Last modified: November 21, 2007
Hosted by the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
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