An
ISO standard is an industrial standard
? that is
published by the International Standards Organization
?. The most widely influential of these have become synonymous with total quality management
?:
[+] the standards
[+] ISO 9000:2000 series for process quality? and job description?s
[+] ISO 14000 series for environmental impact? - see Environmental Management System?
[+] ISO 13335?
[+] ISO TC/211? for GIS?
Desirability of
ISO standards varies on the degree to which other regulation
? is relaxed as a result (a primary motivation to apply them), the industry or type of responsibility involved, which specific standard is being applied, and competitive and market factors (the takeup of any given standard tends to be industry-wide).
use per industry
Takeup of ISO standards varies drastically by industry.
[+] in manufacturing
Manufacturer
?s have been strongly encouraged by the Canadian Manufacturing Association
? to gain ISO 9000 and eventually 14000
certification (validation from an ISO auditor
?, a difficult
credential to get).
[+] in petrochemicals
[+] in local government
ISO-based requirements often show up in Request For Information
? and Request For Proposal
? by agencies of government. Similarly, they are mentioned often in manifesto
?es, declaration
?s, and treaty
? input especially more operational
? and tactical documents regarding the "
greening of government operations" and reliably following "
green procurement" rules.
For instance the
6C declaration called for a "
civic efficiency program including reductions in e-waste
?,
better oversight of municipal operations, adoption of
GAAP, ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards within an ISO 19011 audit framework" for instance as defined in
Beyond GAAP.
[-] in Toronto
Toronto RFP 9144-06-7033
? mentioned ISO 13335,ISO 17779
?:2005 and ISO TC/211
?, but the city under its
NDP administration of
David Miller has avoided any move to total quality management in government
? or
ISO 19011-style
municipal performance audits. Approximately eight hundred Toronto Auditor General
? recommendations remain unimplemented by Toronto staff
? as of 2006-03.
[+] position: Toronto should implement all of ISO
[+] position: Toronto must not upset any staff ever, no matter who dies
[+] position: Toronto should fire staff to be able to smoothly implement TQM including ISO
[-] in First Nations
In Canada also the Membertou First Nation
? certified itself to ISO 9000 and is pursuing also ISO 14000, and a corporation affiliated with them gained
credentials as
ISO auditor to spread the methods to other First Nation
?s. The reserve went from 90% unemployed to effectively
full employment during the transition.
[+] position: Membertou's methods should become standard for First Nations
[+] position: Membertou is an exception to be worshipped not copied
[+] position: Membertou's methods interfere with Ottawa's control of First Nations
implement TQM including ISO
[+] other government use
Some EU
? countries have relaxed regulation/inspection for organizations following
ISO standards, on grounds that merely attempting to implement them causes a large number of wasteful practices to be exposed and eliminated, and that the profit motive
? and risk aversion
? tends to cause organizations to eliminate the
worst practices. By contrast, seesawing between hiring many inspectors
? and then firing them all and deregulating
? tends to produce the worst of all possible results, e.g. the Walkerton
? crisis in
Ontario. The
NDP in particular has been prone to criticizing ISO standards, which informed industrial ecology
? specialists take as a sure sign that the standards must be here to stay.
The ISO 14000 rural
? standards in particular, which categorize land use
? according to water quality
? regret
?, could prevent many e.coli
? problems.
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