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Committee Ballot CAN/CGSB 44.232

CGSB has been reviewing its CAN/CGSB 44.232 – Canadian General Standards Board – CHAIRS FOR OFFICE ENVIRONMENTS.

  Following the new way CAN/CGSB 44.232CGSB deals with standards writing activities; the standard review was done through a working group for “efficiency reasons”.  As you would expect Micom did participate in that working group because of our involvement in furniture testing.  I really like this formula as it has the potential to be much more efficient than the full meetings where a lot of time gets wasted on “red tape” purposes.  The ballot officially closes on November 30th. We believe CGSB will more than likely have to go back to the working group to address all the comments since there were too many.  Why are there so many comments would you ask?  Honestly I don’t know; the chair world has not been “rocked” since 2008; one would therefore assume the standard would not change drastically.  Since the committee last worked on the standard new mechanisms were brought to the market and despite the fact they are ergonomically at least as valuable as the more standard mechanisms; they do not qualify simply because the committee did not consider them when the requirements were laid down prior to 2008.  From a mechanical testing standpoint CAN/CGSB 44.232 still calls up BIFMA X 5.1  whereas for measurements it still calls up BIFMA cmd-1.

Please find below our comments about CAN/CGSB 44.232.  We trust this will help you better understand what the issues are and perhaps, if you sit on the working group, give you some food for thoughts.

For more information about this revised standard and our furniture testing services, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Micom is a third party material testing laboratory accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, CGSB, ISTA and many other organizations.

Comments CGSB-44 232

Michel Comtois

Michel Comtois is an accomplished founder and CEO of Micom Laboratories Inc., an ISO/IEC 17025 (2017) A2LA-accredited independent laboratory specializing in product and material testing services. Before establishing Micom Laboratories in 1999, Michel, who also holds a Master’s degree in Physical Chemistry, gained extensive experience over a 14-year tenure managing departments spanning physical chemistry, physics, mechanical and material testing in research and contract laboratories. This exposure granted him a profound understanding of the intricacies of development and material testing processes.

In addition to his practical experience, Michel has played influential roles on various voluntary technical committees. He notably, served as the chairperson for CAN/CGSB 44.227 and the Head of the Canadian Delegation for ISO TC 136. He also contributed to the following technical committees: CAN/CGSB 44.229, CAN/CGSB 44.232, ANSI/BIFMA X5.1, ANSI/BIFMA X5.5, ANSI/BIFMA X5.6, ANSI/BIFMA X 5.9 ANSI/BIFMA X5.11, ISTA Certification Council.

Leveraging his unique expertise, he has led Micom Laboratories to become a renowned name in its niche, now operating out of a 16,000-square-foot test facility in Montreal, Canada, and serving a diverse customer base with an array of material and product testing services. Follow Michel on LinkedIn

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