Reasons why Britain should complete metrication
Britain has made significant steps towards adopting the metric system but has not
completed the changeover. Metric units are used almost universally in manufacturing,
are commonplace in the retail sector, but are barely visible on Britain's roads
and in the news media. Five key reasons to complete the adoption of the metric system
include:
- The metric system is simply a better system of units than
imperial
- Consumer protection
- Metric is international
- Helps the public understand health and safety
- Supports education especially calculation and numeracy skills
For a more detailed discussion see our
Why metric?
section.
Metric is simply a better system of units than imperial
Common sense would suggest that Britain should make use of the best system of units
available. The metric system is better than imperial so therefore it makes sense
to complete the conversion to metric as soon as possible.
The metric system is a consistent and coherent system of units. In other
words it fits together very well making calculations easy. This is a big advantage
for use in the home, education, industry and science.
Comparing metric with imperial
|
Metric
|
Imperial
|
|
Is consistently based on decimal numbers |
It uses different number systems (base 3, 8, 12, 14 & 16). |
|
Works well with percentages |
Percentages difficult to work out |
|
Able to deal with very large and very small quantities (using prefixes) |
Small quantities handled with awkward fractions |
|
One sort of unit for weight :
|
Two systems of weight:
- avoirdupois pounds, ounces, etc
- troy pounds, ounces, etc
|
|
One system of volume:
millilitre, litre, cubic metre
|
Two systems of volume:
- pints, quarts, gallons
- cubic inches, feet and yards
|
|
Handles mechanical and electrical quantities
|
|
|
No electrical units. Mixing imperial mechanical units and metric electrical ones
is messy
|
|
|
Units are the same internationally
|
|
Some units differ between UK and US
- different pints and gallons
- different tons
- different fluid and dry ounces
|
|
Simple calculations such as floor area, energy consumption and volumes are easy
|
|
|
Simple calculations such as floor area, energy consumption and volumes are needlessly
complicated
|
|
Consumer protection
In 1971 Britain made the switch from Roman-style £sd to decimal currency. Although
many pundits predicted that the changeover would be a disaster, it was a major success.
Two key reasons for this success were: firstly that the Government provided lots
of useful information both in the run up to the changeover and during the changeover
period; secondly the old coinage was rapidly withdrawn from circulation thereby
helping the public confront change as soon as possible.
Britain's metric conversion, in contrast, has failed to follow these critical success
factors. There has been negligible and poor information provided to the public in
order to prepare for change and old units have been left in circulation. Indeed
although labelling and measurement in metric has been compulsory since 2000, supplementary
labels in imperial are allowed for a 10 year changeover period.
The result is a disaster for the consumer. Many retailers price only in imperial
(an illegal practice) and some advertise prominently with imperial prices. Shoppers
are frequently unable to compare the prices of similar products without using a
calculator to convert imperial into metric.
Worse still, if a customer notes an imperial price in a supermarket they cannot
check whether they have been correctly charged at the checkout.
 |
How does the customer know if the advertised price matches the price actually charged
at the checkout?
|
 |
Britain's slow changeover from imperial to metric has opened the door to practices
that undermine the consumer. The consumer will benefit if the changeover is completed
sooner rather than later.
(See more about this issue in our
shopping
section.)
Metric is international
During the second half of the twentieth century most countries that had previously
used traditional units adopted metric. Japan abandoned traditional units in 1955
and India started to adopt metric in the late1950s. With Britain announcing its
plans to go metric in 1965, the rest of the Commonwealth from Australia to Zambia
made plans for a metric conversion (if they did not already have plans underway).
The metric system is important for British trade and therefore also for British
jobs. 88% of Britain's trade is with metric countries.
Source : extracted from Monthly Trade Statistics, March 2004.
Use of a common system of units facilitates cross-border collaboration in design,
engineering, science and medicine.
The further development of the metric system is International. The development of
the metric system is governed by the Metre
Convention; which Britain signed in 1884. British scientists have contributed
to the development of the metric system in the past and continue to do so.
Helps the public understand heath and safety
A good grasp of measurement units such as temperature, mass and distance is foundational
to health and safety. Britain's muddled mix of metric and imperial hinders the public's
understanding of health and safety issues.
There is currently great public concern about the growth of obesity in Britain.
The medical profession uses body mass index (BMI), calculated from an individual's
mass in kilograms and height in metres, to assess whether a person has a healthy
figure. People who measure themselves in metric can quickly assess whether their
BMI is healthy or not. People who weigh themselves in stones & pounds and measure
their height in feet & inches face a more complex calculation.
There are concerns today about the amount of salt and sugar people consume. Food
contents are labelled by the number of grams of ingredient per 100 grams of product.
People who measure food in pounds and ounces can only track their salt and sugar
content with extra calculation.
Many drugs require a dosage based on a patient's body mass. The dosage of the drug
is usually specified in micrograms of drug per kilogram of body mass. If patients
give their weight in stones & pounds, healthcare professionals have to convert
to kilograms to work out the correct dosage.
Health and safety regulations in the workplace are metric. Yet both the Government
and the news media usually communicate with the public using imperial. This undermines
public understanding of rules designed to protect them.
Conversions can also impact safety. A brain surgeon piloting a private aircraft
in Shoreham ran out of fuel and crashed on a house because he had incorrectly converted
the capacity of his US-made fuel tanks from US gallons to litres and had not bought
sufficient fuel (see the news report on the BBC web site).
Many Britons like to walk in mountains, moors or coast paths for recreation. If
they are lost in fog they risk falling off a precipice or into a bog. Thus good
navigation is essential for safety. Britain's OS maps - used by walkers - are based
on a kilometre grid. Thus understanding distances in metric is essential for outdoor
safety. For more information read an article from one of Scotland's
best-known mountaineers.
However, Department for Transport's traffic sign regulations forbid the use of metres
for indicating distances. Ironically, metre-based signage is commonplace in the
private sector.
Completing the metric conversion would help the British public to understand their
medical records, observe health and safety regulations and enjoy the great outdoors
safely.
Supports education especially numeracy and calculation skills
All political parties in Britain pay lip service to improving education standards
in Britain. Concerns have been expressed about numeracy standards and the inability
of one in three adults to perform basic practical calculations like area. Attaining proficiency
in numeracy depends on the unity between decimal numbers, decimal currency and the
metric system of measurement. The continued use of imperial measures undermines
and disrupts that essential base by constantly giving children and adults confusing
mixed messages on measurement.
This schizophrenic approach means that the world of calculation is divorced from
everyday life. Children therefore fail to apply their numeracy skills in their day-to-day
experience. The workforce of the future needs to have sound skills in decimal calculation
and measurement.
Completing the metric conversion in Britain would assist the improvement of mathematical
skills by providing an environment that constantly reinforces what is taught in
the classroom.
For more information read the views of an
educational advisor.