Standardization News

Asbestos Control

As part of ASTM's Memorandum of Understanding program, the Bahrain Standards and Metrology Directorate presented the Standards for Asbestos Control course in Manama, Bahrain, on Oct. 29, 2009. The instructor was Andrew F. Oberta of the Environmental Consultancy, who serves as chairman of Task Group E06.24.03 on Asbestos Management. Thirty attendees representing government and industry in the Gulf Region countries took the one-day course.

Three of the countries - Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - have banned the use of asbestos, and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization has withdrawn seven standards on the manufacture and testing of asbestos-cement products. The course presented attendees with the state-of-the-art methods for managing asbestos-containing materials already installed in buildings and industrial facilities that are described in seven standards developed by ASTM Committees E06 on Performance of Buildings and D22 on Air Quality.

Concrete and Concrete Aggregates

In October 2009, members of ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates presented a technical assistance training program at the Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology in Amman, Jordan. The program dealt with ASTM standards on concrete, cement and reinforcing steel that are referenced in ACI 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary, the American Concrete Institute design standard for structural concrete. Many construction projects in Jordan are based on the ACI design standard, which refers to ASTM specifications and test methods for concrete and its constituent materials.

Nicholas J. Carino, Ph.D., past chairman of Committee C09, and Anthony E. Fiorato, Ph.D., former chairman of the ASTM board of directors and current chairman of C09, presented the three-and-a-half day training program at JISM headquarters. The 25 participants included JISM staff and representatives from local municipal agencies, the ready-mixed concrete industry, testing agencies and the Royal Scientific Society.

Textiles

Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan, ASTM International trainer and technical services consultant for textiles, conducted a technical assistance training program for the Southern African Development Community - Cooperation in Standards (SADCSTAN) Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 2009, at the headquarters of the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) in Gaborone, Botswana. ASTM has memorandums of understanding with both SADCSTAN and BOBS.

Representatives of small manufacturers, purchasers of special uniforms, university lecturers and BOBS staff participated in courses on quality and performance standards and ASTM textile standards for yarns and sewing threads.

For more information on the technical assistance program, contact Sarah Naouri, manager, global cooperation, ASTM International (phone: 610-832-9693; snaouri@astm.org).

Three representatives from the Waha Oil Co. in Tripoli, Libya, visited ASTM International headquarters to take the Technical and Professional Training course, Crude Oil: Sampling, Testing and Evaluation. The course was taught by Harry Giles, Crude Oil Quality Association and a member of ASTM International Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants. Shown, from left: Scott Murphy, ASTM International; Giles; Musbah Alrabti, Waha; Mohsen Azaz, Waha; Hatem Bshina, Waha; and Eileen Finn, ASTM International.