Workplace safety standards address safety in a variety of workplaces, whether it be through proper safety precautions, safeguards included in equipment beginning from the design stages, clearly recognizable warning signs and labels, personal protective equipment, or a number of environment specific standards, such as those for confined spaces or explosive atmosphere.
Environment, health, and safety (EHS) standards play a key role in the overall standards environment, providing a backbone for many other industry specific standardization efforts. ISO 14001 and BS OHSAS 18001/18002 were designed with ISO 19001 in mind, together forming a foundation for wide ranging EHS standards.
A key component, the ISO/IEC 17000 series of standards is a broadly applicable conformity assessment guide that addresses impartiality, confidentiality, complaints and appeals, information disclosure, and the use of management systems, as well as a strong focus on requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems.
ISO Quality Management Standards extend beyond the 9000/9001 series of standards. The ISO 10000 series of standards is comprised primarily of guidelines for customer satisfaction, as well as guidelines for other aspects of quality management. Other standards address the application of ISO 9001 in specific cases, such as local government, crop production, automotive production, and more.
Manufacturing and production standards address the technology underlying modern production. Conveyors and automation present a field where standardization is intrinsic to both its functioning and purpose. Standards for preventive maintenance keep everything running, while machine tool standards are also used in the manufacturing field in non-automated applications.
Energy standards deal with the production, generation, and distribution of energy, sourced from an expanding range including renewables such as wind, hydroelectric, and solar, to coal and gas fuelled designs. These standards address the equipment and machinery involved, their design, production, testing, use, and maintenance, as well as associated environmental testing and other such considerations.
The automotive and aerospace industries share many similarities, requiring parts that can continue functioning properly under the high levels of stress (e.g., heat, vibration, pressure, etc) that are to be expected in, for example, an engine. Automotive standards strive to provide interoperability, so that, for example, an engine manufactured by one company can use fuel from a second and engine oil from a third without issues arising.
Consumer products safety standards are necessary for the testing and evaluation of a wide variety of consumer products. ASTM International (ASTM) has developed consumer products safety standards for an assortment of products such as playground equipment, swimming pools and spas, baby cribs, soccer goals, chairs, candles, toddler beds, children’s toys, toddler carriers, trampolines, and more. These standards serve as a guideline for manufacturers to use for the assurance of quality and safety.
Software, both throughout various industries and as an industry in itself, relies on standardization at its very core. From the very foundation of standardized hardware specifications and interfaces, up through programming languages and interoperability, as well as the simplicity of using software for the purpose and use case that it was intended for, software development and use is heavily driven by standardization.
Electronics standards apply to both electronic components and the more complicated equipment built out of them. With standards for resistors, transducers, capacitors, and other components, as well as also addressing specific requirements of high reliability electronics such as those used in automotive/aerospace or military applications, electronic component standards address from the simple to the complex.
ANSI offers standards from every field and industry, from those that garner widespread attention to those with niche applications. Listed here are those that don't fall into the categories above but are still critical.
As the voice of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) empowers its members and constituents to strengthen the U.S. marketplace position in the global economy while helping to assure the safety and health of consumers and the protection of the environment.