Recognisable standards that customers and consumers can trust do not only provide an assurance of quality – they are also critical to safety, environmental friendliness, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability – all the elements that we may not consciously be aware of or sometimes take for granted – until they are absent.

According to the International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards make an enormous and positive contribution to most aspects of our lives.

The organisation has a few hundred member organisations globally, including the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), that assist in developing internationally recognised standards, which offer technological, economic and societalbenefits:

• It make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner;
• It facilitates trade between countries and make it fairer;
• It provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental legislation, and conformity assessment ;
• It enable the sharing of technological advances and good management practice, and helps to disseminate innovation;
• It safeguard consumers, and users of products and services in general,
• It makes life simpler by providing solutions to common problems

According to ISO the widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers can develop and offer products and services that meet specifications that have wide international acceptance in specific business sectors. Therefore, businesses that use International Standards are able to compete in many markets globally.

For governments International Standards provide the technological and scientific bases that underpin health, safety and environmental legislation, while conformity of products and services to such standards provides assurance to consumers about the quality, safety and reliability of such products.

In terms of the environment, International Standards on air, water and soil quality, emissions of gases and radiation and environmental aspects relating to products can contribute to efforts to preserve the environment. ISO 9001 contains a generic set of requirements for implementing a quality management system, while ISO 14001 relates specifically to an environmental management system.

Many Proudly South African companies can attest to the value of ISO accreditation as a basic requirement for participating successfully in tender processes and in instilling customer confidence and trust.  The Proudly South African Campaign itself is ISO 9001:2000 compliant, a status which has again been confirmed after the successful audit of its business processes and systems by SABS.

For more information on the International Standards Organisation, visit www.iso.org/iso/home.htm