In previous years, many Americans spent Halloween going door-to-door trick-or-treating, dressing up for the workplace costume contest, or hanging out with family and friends at the pumpkin patch or haunted house. Even though the pandemic has forced many people to stay home, that doesn’t mean that fun can’t still be had. Here are some ideas as well as the standards that support these ideas to have a safe but fun Halloween:
- Curl up on the couch and watch a scary movie. Until we can safely gather in movie theaters, streaming a horror movie is a great way to keep Halloween spooky. A streaming experience that is both smooth and secure is crucial to a good movie experience. IEEE 1857.7-2018, IEEE Standard For Adaptive Streaming, specifies the media presentation description (MPD) format and media segment format for dynamic and adaptive streaming over networks, with highlighted features of multi-stream synchronization, content protection, and content authentication. The target applications and services include, but are not limited to, Internet video, on-demand streaming, and live streaming.
- Bake a Halloween treat. As the weather gets colder, the warmth and smell of freshly baked goods is welcome comfort in the home. Making sure your oven is up to safety standards keeps your home and family (as well as your ghost-shaped cookies) safe. A standard from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), IEC 60335-2-6 Ed. 6.1 b:2018, Household And Similar Electrical Appliances - Safety - Part 2-6: Particular Requirements For Stationary Cooking Ranges, Hobs, Ovens And Similar Appliances, deals with the safety of stationary electric cooking ranges, hobs, ovens, and similar appliances for household use. It specifies rated voltage being not more than 250 V for single-phase appliances connected between one phase and neutral, and 480 V for other appliances. The standard was developed by IEC Technical Committee (TC) 61 - Safety of household and similar electrical appliances. ANSI is the U.S. member body to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) via its U.S. National Committee (USNC).
- Have a pumpkin-carving contest. Pumpkin carving is a fun, family-friendly activity for everyone to showcase their creativity and dexterity. Having effective tools for pumpkin carving makes the task easier. ISO 8442-2:1997, Materials And Articles In Contact With Foodstuffs -- Cutlery And Table Holloware -- Part 2: Requirements For Stainless Steel And Silver-Plated Cutlery, specifies material, performance requirements, and test methods for table cutlery such as knives, forks, spoons, carving sets, ladles, children's cutlery and other serving pieces. This standard is concerned with performance and does not include requirements for design, size, type of finish, blade flexibility, or similar characteristics. The standard was prepared by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in collaboration with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee TC 186, Cutlery and table and decorative metal hollow-ware. ANSI is the U.S. member body to ISO.
Overall, there are many ways to have a safe, socially-distant Halloween. No matter how you’re celebrating Halloween this year, know that standards help support it all!
