Quality is the norm
Standards have been established for nearly everything that we do and use on a daily basis. Use of materials must be safe and should not be damaging to your health or the environment. Standards contain agreements concerning the minimum quality of products and services. They provide common ground as well as a means of testing.
Accidents or misuse of situations, for instance fraud, are often the cause of the development or improvement of standards. One infamous fraud scandal of the 21st century concerned the American insurance company Enron. And in August this year 8 million batteries of several well-known laptop brands had to be recalled due to a fire hazard. In both cases there was talk of not complying with agreements that were written in standards and laws - the consequence being the development of new and stricter standards and legislation.
The importance of standards
International standards play a crucial role across all industries and cover a wide range of issues ranging from standard terminology to quality management and health and safety. The world is growing increasingly smaller and now it is possible to run a software program developed in China on a computer in the United States and pay with a Brazilian credit card in New Zealand. Whilst standards may lead to debate or confusion, they ultimately provide a number of advantages including the saving of time and costs as well as an increase in efficiency and responsibilities. By implementing standards organisations become commercially viable, credible and safe and can guarantee customers a certain level of quality of service.
How does a standard come about?
In effect the market creates the need for new standards, for instance as the result of accidents or new products which are introduced onto the market. Nowadays the European Union has an increasing influence on the standardisation and legislation of all European countries. In this way a minimum quality of products and services is guaranteed within Europe. Chairs must be of a certain height, electric blinds work according to certain agreements and just recently standards for breast implants became standardised throughout the world.
Standards in Europe
In brief the range of standards is vast. Standards have influence upon the creature comforts in our living rooms as well as the world economy. This is certainly useful in theory, but how does it work in reality? The business community is sometimes limited by European standards in what it does and what it is allowed to do. A good example of this is window cleaners in the Netherlands who recently became the victim of a European Service guideline. Since the introduction of this guideline Europeans who work as window cleaners in the Netherlands only have to meet the European legislation (and therefore not the Dutch legislation such as the Dutch Occupational Health and Safety Act). As a result working in the Netherlands has become very favourable for European window cleaners and window cleaners in the Netherlands have suddenly become inundated with sturdy competition. Both the working conditions and wages are being put under enormous pressure. In response to these new rules the Socialist Party in the.gif)
Netherlands is in discussion with interest groups, unions and representatives of the European Union in the hope that the disadvantages that window cleaners are currently experiencing can be restructured into a more desirable situation for the Netherlands.
Last month the British Standards Institute (BSI) held a public meeting to discuss the setting of standards to improve safety during overseas school trips for children. A survey conducted by BSI revealed that 82 percent of parents agree that a national safety standard should be set; BS 8848 is being developed in response to this. BSI is working with parents, teachers and travel operators to ensure that the most effective standard is developed on a national level. The purpose of this standard is not to reduce the fun or adventure of overseas excursions for children, but to set best practices to reduce the risk of injury or illness.
Standards for the service desk
Today’s business market is becoming increasingly competitive. IT service desks are given a large responsibility when companies are required to comply with standards. The standard ISO/IEC 20000, developed by BSI is adopted by IT service providers internationally to meet both the requirements of the business and the customer. This standard is based upon the best practices of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
Standards for quality
Standards contribute to the quality of our lives and ensure the regulation of the country in which we live. Standards also facilitate agreements between companies, authorities and governments. Nowadays we are becoming increasingly used to rules and standards. And when adversity occurs, we become extra aware of standards or the absence thereof. The principle of supply and demand is then triggered and the organisation in question can begin address-ing the issue.
Acts and standardisation bodies
SOX Act
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a collection of standards, imposed on American companies, overseas branches of American companies, foreign companies with a branch in the United States and foreign organisations that wish to conduct business with American companies. The Act ensures that all company information that is made public conforms to the check and safety requirements of this Act. SOX stands for the Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley and was introduced following a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Energy company Enron. Within 15 years Enron grew to become the seventh largest company in the US, with 21 000 employees in 40 countries. At the end of 2001 it was revealed that Enron falsified profits and withheld information about debts. Millions of dollars disappeared whereby invest-ors, employees and pensioners were conned.
Standardisation institutes
ISO
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international organisation that establishes standards. The organisation is a joint venture of national standardisation organisations in 156 countries. One well-known ISO standard is ISO 9001. It is used by internal and external parties (such as certification institutions) to determine whether the organisation meets the requirements of clients, laws and legislations, and the requirements of the organisation.
British Standards Institute (BSI)
BSI is the National Standards Body of the United Kingdom which represents the interests of businesses, manufacturers and individuals, with regard to the development of standards. BSI was the world’s first national standards-making body and nowadays serves both the private and public sectors. BSI works with manufacturing and service industries, businesses, governments and consumers to facilitate the production of British, European and international standards.
CE marking
In Europe products must conform to the essential health and safety requirements set out in European Directives. The CE mark then becom-es a mandatory marking on these products. You will have noticed this marking - it should not be missing from a single technical product.
Leave a comment