Importance of standards
Most people take standards for granted, but many of our everyday experiences couldn’t happen without them. For example, suppose it’s Saturday and you are going to the lake. The car that takes you there is built on thousands of standards: airbags, crash testing, paint, steel, upholstery, seatbelts, tires, etc. There are even standards for eliminating radio interference from the spark plug wires. We can listen to the radio and drive at the same time! All of these standards work together to make the car comfortable, reliable and safe, and all of them are built to conform to written standards.
Suppose that you stop at the convenience store for gas. The octane numbers (87, 89, etc.) are measured by standard test methods. The pump will be calibrated using a standard method, and have a current inspection sticker. This inspection sticker is a trust mark, and the supporting written standards provide confidence that the correct amount of the expected product is delivered to your tank. In other words, standards ensure that you’re getting what you paid for.
In the medical world, standards are even more critical. The typical surgery will involve thousands of standards: anesthesia, sterilization, gloves, gowns, masks, medical implants, antibiotics, preparation solutions, lighting, and so on. The good news is that we don’t have to even think about these things, because all these pieces are built to conform to standards covering their safety and effectiveness. We can trust that the routine supplies and equipment will work, and focus our efforts on supporting the patient.
For life scientists, the obvious benefits of standards include better quality data for more reproducible and reliable results, as well as the ability to compare results from lab-to-lab across the globe.
In the medical world, standards are even more critical. The typical surgery will involve thousands of standards: anesthesia, sterilization, gloves, gowns, masks, medical implants, antibiotics, preparation solutions, lighting, and so on. The good news is that we don’t have to even think about these things, because all these pieces are built to conform to standards covering their safety and effectiveness. We can trust that the routine supplies and equipment will work, and focus our efforts on supporting the patient.
WHO MAKES STANDARDS AND HOW?
Standards are developed by volunteers who either have a specific expertise or concerns related to a given topic— basically, anyone with knowledge in a field, and interest, can contribute to the process. These volunteers come from a range of different perspectives, and can be the producers of products and services, users, consumers, government regulators, and consultants. Standards for consumer products often focus on safety; and it is in participation in developing these standards where consumer groups play an especially important role.
One of the guiding principles of standards development is openness, which means that barriers to participation in the development should be low – hence ensuring that the standards are applicable and valuable in the real world. In most cases, membership fees are small or non-existent; and with email and the internet, it is possible to participate by web conferencing, phone conference, or by providing written comments and opinion.
WHY DO STANDARDS CHANGE?
Standards are evolving continually. There are thousands of new standards under development at any given time, and each published standard is subject to periodic review, which is typically every five years. However, standards development committees don’t need to wait for a full review cycle and can revise standards whenever there is a need. Changes to standards occur by first establishing a need, and then assigning that need to a “task group” or “working group,” which makes the edits. The revised document comes back to a technical committee for review and approval.
The goal of World Standards Day is to raise awareness of the importance of global standardization to the world economy and to promote its role in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government, and consumers worldwide.