BUSINESS STANDARDS
is the quarterly magazine of BSI Group, highlighting the vital role that standards play in today's business environment. Regular features include interviews with leading business figures, as well as news on the latest developments in management systems and standards.
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Every year, organizations around the world experience some disruptions to their operations. The reasons can be innocent, from staff illness to weather conditions, but they can also be more severe, from industrial accidents to criminal activity. Whatever the disruption, organizations are under pressure to maintain business as usual. For most, this is helped by the implementation of a business continuity management system (BCMS).
Through the European looking glass
EN 14351-1, published in May 2006, is the European Standard covering windows and doors made of any material. In essence, it means that CE marking is now required for windows and doors to be sold or transported across Europe (though CE marking remains voluntary for such products manufactured and sold in the UK).
As pressures mount for businesses to become more efficient, to do more with less and to keep an eye on the bottom line, managing resources effectively is proving more essential than ever. Resource prices have been particularly volatile over the past year and fuel and energy costs to businesses have seen more fluctuations than most.
Policing the Kitemark: Kent Trading Standards
Late in 2008, Kent Trading Standards (KTS) successfully prosecuted the UK retailer of a particular brand of unsafe carbon monoxide detectors, following a lengthy investigation. As part of its case, KTS was able to prosecute the company for misuse of the BSI Kitemark symbol, a first of its kind in the UK. The retailer was fined £65,000 with more than £5,000 in costs, representing the largest financial penalty ever secured by KTS.
ISO 9004: dispatches from Tokyo
In February 2009, the 26th meeting of ISO/TC 176 was held at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo, Japan.
On the agenda was the revision of ISO 9004, which provides guidance on how organizations can continually improve their quality management system. The standard, which is now titled Managing for the sustained success of an organization - A quality management approach, is nearing completion and many comments were reviewed during the meeting.
Question: Is the contribution made by standards always positive?
Standards can make an enormous contribution to organizations, businesses and society - a number of recent studies have confirmed this as an indisputable fact. But is the contribution they make always positive? In my role as chairman of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), I have a close understanding of the world of standards. Most of UKAS' accreditation work is based on standards - from the certification of quality and environmental management systems to a huge range of product testing and beyond.
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