FAIRFAX, Va.—The ANSI Accredited Standards Committee Z80 (ASC Z80) announced the resignation of Optical Laboratories Association as its secretariat and announced the selection of The Vision Council as the new Secretariat. The Secretariat is responsible for the administrative operations of ASC Z80’s standards writing activities.

“I want to congratulate the Optical Laboratories Association on the completion of more than a quarter century of administrative leadership for the Z80 Committee,” said Committee chairman Dr. Thomas C. White, MD. “[OLA technical director] Dan Torgersen has done an exemplary job serving as Secretariat of the Committee since 1993. On behalf of the Committee, I wish to give a hearty thank you to the Optical Laboratories Association, including the board of directors, the staff, and the principal participants, for their many years of service to the standards writing community.”

“I want to welcome The Vision Council to their new role as the administrative agency and Secretariat for the Z80 Committee,” said White. “We anticipate a smooth transition commencing at the upcoming meeting in Alexandria, Va. on Sept. 23, 2008.”

Bob Dziuban, executive director for Optical Laboratories Association, said, “The OLA staff will be in transition over the next several years and we will not necessarily maintain the staffing required to serve as Z80 Committee Secretariat. This was the appropriate time to initiate the transition to a new Secretariat, while several years remain to ensure a smooth continuity of operations.”

“Standards writing is an intensive, long-term process, with every standard requiring revision on a five-year cycle,” said Torgersen, “and the administrative support function is critical to timely and successful standards completion and approval by the ANSI organization. I look forward to working with The Vision Council to share the experience that OLA has gathered over so many years.”

“OLA has been a member of the Z80 Committee since its inception over 30 years ago, and has been pleased to serve as the administrative Secretariat for over 25 years. OLA will continue to be actively and extensively involved in the standards writing activities of the Z80 Committee with continued participation of volunteers from OLA member companies and OLA staff,” said Barney Dougher, OLA president. “We currently have three long-standing participants, and we have several volunteers who will begin participating in the next few months.”

The ANSI ASC Z80, Committee for Standards in Ophthalmic Optics, is an Accredited Standards Committee of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The committee is composed of 19 member organizations—associations in the ophthalmic industry and government or military organizations with interests in the ophthalmic industry. Representatives from the member organizations review and revise existing standards, and propose new standards, which become voluntary guidelines for equipment and materials used in the ophthalmic industry. ASC Z80’s standards span the range from intraocular devices to vision testing equipment, from ophthalmic lenses to ophthalmic frames, and from contact lenses to sunglasses. For a complete listing of ASC Z80’s published standards, go to: webstore.ansi.org, and enter “Z80” as the Search Standards Keyword.