By Michael Bournazian, Eng., Newsletter Editor, ASQ Senior Member, Quality Management Professional, CSSGB with Rolls-Royce
If you are reading this, then the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 is now in the history books. If you took the opportunity to witness it live, good for you. And even if you did not, given social media, there are a million and three options to witness it after the fact.
One thing I actually learned because of the solar eclipse is that . . . low and behold, there’s a ISO standard for that!
The ISO 12312-2:2015 standard, entitled “Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and related eyewear – Part 2: Filters for direct observation of the Sun“, is the standard to which protective eyewear must be certified to in order to properly and safely view the sun.
According to the Solar Eclipse Across America website: “ISO 12312-2 sets requirements on the following properties of a safe solar viewer:
- Transmittance (the ratio of transmitted light to incident light) at the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths that reach our retinas;
- Uniformity of transmittance;
- Material and surface quality;
- Mounting;
- Labeling.”
Often in our Quality lives, we work with “common” ISO standards like ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO45001, etc. However, the International Organization of Standardization has published (as of January 2024) over 25,000 international standards covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing.
And in case you were wondering, there are 2 other ISO 12312 standards:
- ISO 12312-1: 2022 > Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and related eyewear – Part 1: Sunglasses for general use; and
- ISO 12312-3:2022 > Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and related eyewear – Part 3: Sunglasses for running, cycling and similar active lifestyles.
A solar eclipse . . . not just something to SAFELY look at.
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