Standards Watch BY RON BONNER CWA 15902: A standard? FOLLOWING MY LAST EFFORT in Protocol , in which I attempted to explain the way in which we Brits go about creating a standard for use in the entertainment industry—I thought I would demystify a document that has been around for a number of years that is gaining in popularity in stage engineering circles, both in the UK and Europe and now, to some extent, in the PLASA Technical Standards Program. It’s a slightly confusing picture as it isn’t a standard—just an agreement—so here goes on what a CEN Workshop Agreement is. workshop structure within the framework of CEN (the European Committee for Standardization or to be totally accurate Comité Européen de Normalisation – CEN) and owned by CEN as a publication that refl ects the consensus of identifi ed individuals and organisations responsible for its contents. The Workshop Agreement therefore represents a lower level of consensus and transparency than that represented by the European Standard (EN) and is not designed to support legislative requirements or to meet market needs support legislation or regulation, the CWA concept does not in itself preclude this possibility. Also CEN has agreed that those wishing to participate in the Workshops should not be limited to the geographical confi nes of Europe to promote global trade patterns and the development of technical agreements outside formal national standardisation structures. The relaxed conditions that have to be met in the development phase of the Workshop Agreement are deliberately light to facilitate its elaboration. There The document in question is CWA 15902 or to give the two-part document its full title, CEN Workshop Agreement 15902-1:2008, Lifting and Load-bearing Equipment for Stages and other Production Areas within the Entertainment Industry – Part 1: General requirements (excluding aluminium and steel trusses and towers and CWA 15902-2:2008, Lifting and Load-bearing Equipment for Stages and other Production Areas within the Entertainment Industry – Part 2: Specifi cations for design, manufacture and for use of aluminium and steel trusses and towers . Most people have never even heard of a “Workshop Agreement.” I know I hadn’t before I got involved. And is it a standard? Well, not quite. The CEN Workshop Agreement is a technical agreement, developed in an open FALL 2011 “ “ The CEN Workshop Agreement is a technical agreement, developed in an open workshop structure within the framework of CEN . . . and owned by CEN as a publication that reflects the consensus of identified individuals and organisations responsible for its contents. CEN WORKSHOP AGREEMENT: THE PROCESS PREPARATION Of a Business Plan describing the scope, objectives, cost, and schedule: sent for public comment. KICK OFF Meeting to start the workshop confi rming the Business Plan including the rules of the Workshop, the Chairman, and the Secretariat. DRAFTING Preferably using electronic tools. Often drafts are put to public comment. ADOPTION Of the documents through consensus. CEN WORKSHOP AGREEMENT Published by the CEN National Members. CHECK On validity after no more than 3 years. where signifi cant health and safety issues are to be addressed. Therefore, a CWA’s aim is to create a technical agreement where there is no intention or support for a standard to be developed. Nevertheless, while I have said already that the CWA is not designed to is a requirement that the content of the Workshop Agreement does not confl ict with existing European standards or current European standardisation activities and must be withdrawn if publication of an EN brings the CWA into confl ict with the EN. 58 FALL 2011