Standards

What is a standard?
A standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications,
guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure
that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
purpose. We published over 19 500 International Standards that can
be purchased from the ISO store or from our members.
What are the benefits of ISO International Standards?
ISO International Standards ensure that products and services are
safe, reliable and of good quality. For business, they are strategic
tools that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors, and
increasing productivity. They help companies to access new markets,
level the playing field for developing countries and facilitate free and
fair global trade.
Our story
The ISO story began in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries met
at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London and decided to create a
new international organization to facilitate the international
coordination and unification of industrial standards. In February
1947 the new organization, ISO, officially began operations.
Since then,we have published over 19 500 International Standards
covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing.
Today we have members from 163 countries and 3 368 technical
bodies to take care of standard development. More than 150 people
work full time for ISOs Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

promoting global harmonization of medical practices so

you can be sure that your medical care will be the same everywhere,
protecting the health and safety of patients and healthcare
providers,
supporting efficient exchange of information and protection
of data, and
improving the quality of care.

Sustainable development
ISO standards and sustainable development
Rio de Janeiros 1992 conference put sustainable development clearly
on the political agenda. More than twenty years on, the issue is more
relevant than ever. From carbon footprint to community
infrastructures and the many environmental challenges that
businesses face, ISO has a comprehensive range of standards that can
help businesses and organizations all over the world make progress in
the three pillars of sustainable development the environment,
economy and society.
Carbon footprint
The carbon (or environmental) footprint is increasingly used by
governments and societies as the core indicator of our impact on the
environment. But does one size fit all? ISO has produced abriefing
note by environmental standards experts that sheds light on the
importance of consistency in standards in this field and how they can
break down barriers to trade and help to build a more sustainable
future.

It's all in the name

Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have
different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in
French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our
founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from
the Greek isos, meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the
language, we are always ISO.

ISO Standards in Action

Health
Health matters - in all communities, all over the world. Access to
health services, quality care, and safe medical practices and
equipment is important to people everywhere.
How do ISO standards help?
We have over 1200 standards that focus on health in many sectors,
ranging from dentistry to medical devices, and health
informatics to traditional medicines.
Our standards help improve health in many ways, including:

Food
ISO standards and food
Today more than ever, food products regularly cross national
boundaries at every stage of the supply chain. ISO International
Standards create confidence in the products we eat or drink by
ensuring the world uses the same recipe when it comes to food
quality, safety and efficiency. ISOs standards provide a platform for
developing practical tools through common understanding and
cooperation with all stakeholders on board from agricultural
producers, to food manufacturers, laboratories, regulators,
consumers, etc. Out of more than 19 500 ISO International Standards,
some 1 000 are specifically dedicated to food, and deal with subjects
as diverse as agricultural machinery, logistics, transportation,
manufacturing, labelling, packaging and storage.
Water

ISO standards and water

Few challenges are more global than water. ISO provides global tools
to help us manage our shared water resources equitably and durably.
ISO water standards build confidence through consensus-based
global solutions for good business practice, management of
resources, risk assessment, metrics and infrastructure. They facilitate
sustainable water management and increase water potential, helping
alleviate water scarcity and contributing to achieving the UN's
Millennium Development Goals.

Services
Services represent more than two thirds of World Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), according to theWorld Trade Organization. They are
a core economic activity, contributing more to GDP than both
industry and agriculture combined. The services revolution creates
new commercial opportunities and underpins virtually every
economic activity.

Cars
ISO standards and cars
ISO standards for the automotive industry cover all aspects: safety,
ergonomics, performance, test methods, the environment, and the
roll-out of innovative technologies. Clearly, with more than a billion
estimated road vehicles in use worldwide, if the automotive sector
uses state-of-the-art standards for aspects such as safety, impact on
the environment, and requirements for supply chain partners, this can
have an enormous impact on all three dimensions of sustainable
development social, environmental and economic.

ISO develops International Standards that help ensure that services

are of a consistent, high quality. This has a number of benefits:

For example, we have standards that:

help organizations to quantify their greenhouse gas

emissions and communicate on them, for example ISO 14064 and ISO
14065,
promote good practice in environmental and energy
management, such as ISO 14001 and ISO 50001, and
open up world markets for energy efficient and renewable
energy technologies.
Energy efficiency and renewables
Reducing energy consumption and the dependancy on fossil fuels is a
major challenge. Governments, organizations and corporations
around the world must work together in order to move towards a
more sustainable future.
ISO International Standards can help solve the energy challenge by:

increasing energy efficiency, and

promoting the development of renewable energy
technologies.
Over 150 of our 19 500 standards are related to energy efficiency and
renewables. These range from the energy management system
standard ISO 50001 that can be used by any organization in any
sector, to standards specific to certain sectors, such as building or
transportation.
Building Standards such as ISO 23045 for the energy
efficiency assessment of buildings, and ISO 13153 for the design of
energy saving family homes, can help reduce energy use in the sector.
Transport ISO standards for ships, aircraft and cars can
help reduce emissions and fuel consumption.

For consumers, it means you can have more confidence in

all types of services ranging from phone bills to tourism.
For business, ensuring a good quality service helps
differentiate your business from the competition, bringing concrete
economic benefits.
ISO standards deal with many types of services in different sectors.
For example:

Climate change
Climate change is the major environmental challenge of our time.
Global action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well
as adapt to the changes that cannot be avoided. ISO International
Standards can help tackle climate change in a number of ways.

Renewables - ISO standards on emerging technologies

such as solar power can help organizations share best practice and drive
uptake. We are also active in solid biofuels and standards in this field
will be published soon.

ISO 10002:2014 provides guidance on the process

of complaints handling within an organization helping to enhance
customer satisfaction.
ISO 24510:2007 focuses on drinking water and
wastewater services, giving guidance on how to satisfy users' needs
and expectations.
ISO/IEC Guide 76 includes recommendations to service
providers for addressing a range of consumer issues, helping them to
reduce customer complaints and the business costs of poor service.
How to find standards on services
Market demand for standards to ensure the quality of service delivery
is rising to match services importance in economies around the
world. Currently about 700 of ISOs 19000 standards are directly
related to services, and this number is growing rapidly.
ISO International Standards are designed by groups of experts called
technical committees, each concentrating on a specific subject. One
way to find standards on a specific topic is to search the work of a
particular technical committee.

Accessibility
Over a billion people are estimated to live with some form of
disability, according to the World Health Organization. This
corresponds to about 15 % of the world's population.
But accessibility is not just about disabilities. When you add in the
elderly, parents with small children and even those with minor
injuries, it is clear that accessibility is an issue that can affect us all.

How do ISO standards help?

Organisations are increasingly required to make their premises and
products non-discriminatory - and that means accessible to everyone.
ISO standards are an important tool, because they give
manufacturers, service providers, designers and policy makers the
specifications and guidelines on how to design products and services
that are accessible to all.
Our wide-ranging portfolio of accessibility-related standards includes
those addressing the physical environment and information
technology as well as more specific aspects such as mobility devices.