Accredited Standards Committee Z1 — FAQs
What is the purpose of the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Z1?
The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Z1 on QEDS is an organization accredited through the American Society of Quality (ASQ) by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a consensus body to develop generic American National Standards in the fields of:
- quality assurance and quality management,
- environmental management systems,
- dependability and related disciplines, and
- the application of statistical techniques.
The Z1 focus is ensuring the above types of standards published as American National Standards meet the needs of organizations within the United States of America. The Z1 Committee has the ability, right and responsibility to create American National Standards for quality management, environment management, dependability and statistics wherever a need exists. They have the right to adopt international standards as written, or adapt them as needed, to create a standard that is applicable and acceptable to US stakeholders. To facilitate the above, the ASC Z1 has established subcommittees that act as separate consensus bodies for standards in each of the above four technical disciplines.
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Why is membership important to me, my organization, my industry, and my country? How do I participate?
My professional development:
- Provides the opportunity to influence the development of US national standards.
- Provides advanced knowledge of new standards while they are under development.
- Further educates you on the standards development process, which also helps you understand and work within the international standards development process.
- Allows networking with other industry leaders that are members of Z1.
- Provides significant opportunities to improve your interpersonal and communication skills.
- Provides opportunities to develop leadership skills and establish leadership credibility for future positions in other SDO’s, including TAGs.
- Strengthens your position as the American National Standards subject matter expert within your organization.
My organization:
Being involved in the development and promotion of quality, environmental, dependability and/or statistical standards has a direct effect on your organization’s ability to compete, both nationally and globally. While the TAG’s focus is representing US positions at ISO or IEC meetings, the Z1 focus is ensuring those standards published as American National Standards meet the needs of organizations within the United States of America. Being a member of Z1 gives you a voice in the development and adoption of US National Standards.
My industry:
The Z1 Committee has the ability, right and responsibility to create American National Standards for quality management, environmental management, dependability and statistics wherever a need exists. They have the right to adopt international standards as written, or adapt them as needed, to create a standard that is applicable and acceptable to US stakeholders.
My country:
Since the US is the world’s largest national economy frequently at the forefront of technology, approved American National Standards can become the basis for future international standards. This gives the consensus US position a very great advantage and a higher likelihood of acceptance by a majority of the international community. This provides a competitive advantage to those US companies to which the standards apply.
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How much time will I have to devote to participate on the ASC Z1? Is there a cost?
The time you devote to participating in the ASC Z1 is usually associated with reviewing, editing and voting on specific standards or attending the twice-yearly Standards Group meetings. The time devoted to non-meeting activities varies, depending on the number and complexity of the standards being considered. The meetings are 1 to 2 days long, and like the non-meeting time, it depends on the number and complexity of standards in the current work program. Most of the time spent will be working in one of the four Subcommittees. There is no charge for be a participating member within the Z1 Committee except your expenses for attending meetings.
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How does ASC Z1 relate to the ASQ and national (ANSI) and International (IEC and ISO) Standards Development Management Organizations?
The ASC Z1 is supported by ASQ who acts as Administrator. Membership in ASQ is not required for membership in the ASC Z1. Since the ASC Z1 only has responsibility for American National Standards, it has no direct relation ship with IEC or ISO. The ASC Z1 is indirectly associated with the international bodies through its membership in the US Standards Group on QEDS. This group is an association of the Z1 Committee and its four subcommittees, five corresponding US Technical Advisory Groups to ISO/IEC Technical Committees (TAG 56-Dependability, TAG 69-Statistics, TAG 176-Quality, and SubTAGs 1 and 2 of TAG 207-Environmental) and the ASQ Standards Committee. Most Z1 Subcommittee members are members of their corresponding TAG. This association facilitates awareness of standards development activities between the various groups to minimize duplication. Many times a standard being developed internationally is being adopted in parallel as an American National Standard, simplifying the whole development process.
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What published documents are available and how may they be obtained?
The list of published documents is maintained on our QualityPress Bookstore You can order copies of these standards by contacting ASQ Customer Service at (800) 248-1946 or online at http://qualitypress.asq.org.
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How do I become a member?
Membership in the ASC Z1 is open to all national interested parties who indicate that they are directly and materially affected by the activity of the Z1 Committee. A national interested party is any individual located in the US, representing an organization, company, government agency or themselves, including US branch offices of foreign companies. Membership is free. If you are interested in joining the Z1 Subcommittee on Quality Management, Environmental Management, Dependability, or Statistics, please email standards@asq.org.
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