What is the full form of ISO?

What is ISO?

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. It is a non-governmental organization in which standards bodies of more than 160 countries represent their country. These standards bodies are the national standards organizations of each country. ISO has been created with the object of promoting international standards for various processes like

• International standards for information technology

• Working conditions

• Scientific testing processes

• Societal issues

The decision-making body of the organization is known as ISO's General Assembly. Elected leaders and members are known as principal officers who make decisions on various aspects. Geneva is the city in Switzerland which is the headquarters of ISO is located. The central secretariat looks after the operations of ISO.

History of ISO

International Federation of the National Standards (ISA) was started in 1928 and it provided its services till 1942 during World War II. In 1946, the members of ISA and the UNSCC (United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee) formed ISO in 1947.

The first ISO standard was published in 1951 and was known as ISO/R 1:1951 (Standard Reference Temperature for Industrial Length Measurements). This standard is now known as ISO 1:2016. Till 2021, ISO has published more than 24,000 standards.

Types of ISO Standards

Some of the popular ISO standards are as follows −

ISO 9000

ISO 9000 is known as quality management. It helps the organizations to improve the quality of their products and services. A set of tools and procedures are available in this ISO which help the companies to know where they have to improve.

ISO 31000

ISO 31000 is known as risk management. Every business has to deal with some risks which can be managed with the help of ISO 31000. This ISO consists of a framework which includes best practices which can be used to manage the risks.

ISO/IEC 27000

ISO/IEC 27000 is also known as Information Security Management Systems. This is a standard which can be used by businesses to save their information, especially sensitive ones. This standard also helps those companies that have the responsibility of maintaining and managing sensitive data of customers.

ISO 22000

ISO 22000 is known as Food Safety Management. This standard is applied to those organizations whose job is to maintain the quality of food that we eat. This standard is applied to all the organizations that deal with food and the size of the organization is not a concern.

Process of development of ISO Standards

ISO standards can be developed by following the six stages discussed below.

Proposal Stage

Proposal stage is the first step in which industry associations or consumer groups have to propose a request to develop a new ISO standard. The ISO committee has to decide whether or not a new standard is needed to be developed.

Preparatory Stage

This is the second stage in which a new working draft has to be prepared by a working group. This working group includes industry stakeholders and subject matter experts. The parent committee of the working group decides the next stage after the working draft is satisfactory.

Committee Stage

Committee stage is the third stage and is considered an optional stage. This is a stage in which the parent committee reviews the draft and gives feedback. After reaching a consensus on the draft, it can be moved to the next stage.

Enquiry Stage

When the draft reaches to the enquiry stage, it is termed as DIS (Draft International Standard). The DIS is distributed to ISO members who have to make their comments and give their votes. The DIS is published as a standard if there are no technical changes. If technical changes are made, the DIS is sent to the next stage.

Approval Stage

This is the stage in which the DIS is submitted as a final draft to the ISO members. The draft is approved after the voting of the members.

Publication Stage

The approved DIS is published at this stage as an official international standard.

ISO Certification

ISO certification refers to the assurance of the certifying body that a product, service, or system meets the requirement and is considered to be safe to use. Standards are developed by ISO while third-party certification bodies certify a product or service.

How a business can become ISO Certified?

If a business wants to become ISO certified, it has to spend a lot of money as the process is very expensive and takes a lot of time. If you want to make your business ISO certified first think whether it is necessary or not. Here are some of the reasons that businesses want to become ISO-certified.

Meeting common standards

Some businesses sell products and services and they want to show that their materials meet the common standards

Meet Minimum standards

Some companies want their products and services to meet the minimum standards and for that certification is needed

Customer requirements

Some customers like government agencies may also prefer certification

Quality consistency

Organizations want to be certified so that the quality of products and services can be maintained consistently.

Customer satisfaction

Customers will always be satisfied if they come to know that the product or service they have purchased is ISO-certified.

Here are the steps to become ISO-certified −

• The first step is to understand the ISO standard

• Check the areas which can be trouble and do not meet the requirements of ISO

• All the plans and procedures should be documented and trouble areas should be eliminated

• An internal audit has to be conducted to check that everything is as per the ISO requirement. This step should be done before the official audit

• The last step is to follow the certification process

Advantages of ISO Certification

ISO certification has many advantages and some of them are listed here −

• It is simple to train new and existing employees

• Problems can be found at their earliest stage which makes the solution easy

• Consumer loyalty is improved

• Businesses can review their progress

• Increase in involvement of employees

Conclusion

ISO can be expanded to the International Organization for Standardization. This is a standard which many companies want to avail to show that their products and services are of good quality. The process of getting ISO certification is expensive and all organizations do not need it.

FAQs

1. What is the full form of ISO?

ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization.

2. Why is ISO required?

Companies need ISO to prove that their products and services are of standard quality.

3. Is getting an ISO certificate expensive?

Yes! Getting an ISO certificate is expensive and small organizations cannot afford it.

4. In which year ISO was established?

ISO was established in 1947.

5. Was there any other organization before ISO that looked after the standard?

Yes! ISA was there and its full form is the International Federation of the National Standards. It was started in 1928 and its services were stopped in 1942. ISO is the descendent of ISA.