World Standards Day 2023: What Popular Standards Worldwide You Need to Know?

World Standards Day 2023: Every year on October 14, the world observes World Standards Day (also known as International Standards Day). The day celebrates the work of the thousands of experts who create voluntary standards inside organizations that establish standards. Delegates from 25 nations came together in London in 1946 and made the decision to create an international group with the goal of promoting standardization. The first World Standards Day was not observed until 1970, despite the fact that ISO was established one year later.

It’s #WorldStandardsDay tomorrow! 🤩 Together, we can create a world that is better, fairer and more sustainable. Here’s everything you need to help us raise awareness 👉 https://t.co/L2ctX4kz4D @IECStandards @ITU #standardsforSDGs pic.twitter.com/Zw9i1KfqkH

— ISO (@isostandards) October 13, 2023

List of Popular International Standards

ISO 45001: ISO 45001 builds on the success of earlier international standards in this area such as OHSAS 18001, the International Labour Organization’s ILO-OSH Guidelines, various national standards and the ILO’s international labour standards and conventions. 

ISO 639: Internationally recognized codes for the representation of more than 500 languages or language families, with ISO 639. This ISO standard can be applied across many types of organisations and situations. It’s invaluable for bibliographic purposes, in libraries or information management, including computerized systems, and for the representation of different language versions on Websites.

ISO 4217: This standard establishes internationally recognized codes for the representation of currencies that enable clarity and reduce errors. People around the world rely on almost 300 different currencies to do business with each other, which is why it pays to use ISO 4217.

ISO 8601:  This ISO standard helps remove doubts that can result from the various day–date conventions, cultures and time zones that impact a global operation. It gives a way of presenting dates and times that are clearly defined and understandable to both people and machines.

The order of the elements used to express date and time in ISO 8601 is as follows: year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds.

ISO 9660: ISO 9660 has given rise to the popular use of the term ISO-image, which it is used to refer to an exact snapshot of a disc. This created the basis for a standard that was submitted to, and published by, Ecma International, one of a number of organizations in cooperation with ISO. Submitted to ISO's fast-track process, it was rapidly developed into ISO 9660, which was published in 1988.

ISO 13216: ISO 13216-1 describes a universal system for anchoring child restraint systems to vehicles. The purpose of this system is to improve the overall safety performance of child restraints, particularly by improving the convenience of installation and reducing the risk of misuse. It’s a perfect example of how ISO brings manufacturers of different products to work together, using International Standards as a basis for creating compatible products that make daily life safer and more convenient.

ISO 6: ISO 6 allowed photographers to select the right film for their subject, taking into account things like lighting and speed of movement. If you look at any dedicated digital camera, you'll still find a reference to ISO and the time when all photography was on film.

ISO 14001: ISO 14001 sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and can be certified. It maps out a framework that a company or organization can follow to set up an effective environmental management system. It provides requirements with guidance for use that relate to environmental systems. Other standards in the family focus on specific approaches such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis, as well as environmental challenges such as climate change.

ISO/IEC 17025: ISO/IEC 17025 is useful for any organisation that performs testing, sampling or calibration and wants reliable results. This includes all types of laboratories, whether they be owned and operated by government, industry or, in fact, any other organisation. It helps facilitate cooperation between laboratories and other bodies by generating wider acceptance of results between countries.

ISO 13485: ISO 13485 is designed to be used by organizations involved in the design, production, installation and servicing of medical devices and related services. It can also be used by internal and external parties, such as certification bodies, to help them with their auditing processes. The new version has a greater emphasis on risk management and risk-based decision-making, as well as changes related to the increased regulatory requirements for organizations in the supply chain.

ISO 22000: ISO 22000 sets out the requirements for a food safety management system and can be certified to it. It maps out what an organization needs to do to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe. It can be used by any organization regardless of its size or position in the food chain.

ISO 26000: ISO 26000 provides guidance rather than requirements, so it cannot be certified, unlike some other well-known ISO standards. It is for people who recognize that respect for society and the environment is a critical success factor. As well as being the “right thing” to do, the application of ISO 26000 is increasingly viewed as a way of assessing an organization’s commitment to sustainability and its overall performance.

ISO 31000: ISO 31000, Risk management – Guidelines, provides principles, a framework and a process for managing risk. It can be used by any organization regardless of its size, activity or sector. Using ISO 31000 can help organizations increase the likelihood of achieving objectives,  improve the identification of opportunities and threats and effectively allocate and use resources for risk treatment.

ISO 37001: ISO 37001 can be used by any organization, large or small, whether it be in the public, private or voluntary sector, and in any country. It’s the International Standard that allows organizations of all types to prevent, detect and address bribery by adopting an anti-bribery policy, appointing a person to oversee anti-bribery compliance, training, risk assessments and due diligence on projects and business associates, implementing financial and commercial controls, and instituting reporting and investigation procedures.

ISO 3166: The purpose of ISO 3166 is to define internationally recognized codes of letters and/or numbers that we can use when we refer to countries and their subdivisions. However, it does not define the names of countries – this information comes from United Nations sources (Terminology Bulletin Country Names and the Country and Region Codes for Statistical Use maintained by the United Nations Statistics Divisions).

ISO 50001: ISO 50001 is based on the management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001. This makes it easier for organizations to integrate energy management into their overall efforts to improve quality and environmental management and develop a policy for more efficient use of energy.

ISO 20121: ISO 20121 offers guidance and best practices to help you manage your event and control its social, economic and environmental impact. Every action counts, from relying on tap water instead of plastic bottles to encouraging the use of public transport. It has been developed with guidance from different stakeholders to help you cut different costs.

Source: ISO Organization