Feel Secure with Standards Audits

摘要

Standards are gaining ground in the automation industry. Just look at the rise in FDA regulations, wireless technologies, and industrial security needs. With such popularity comes the need for accreditation bodies to ensure standards are up to par. Bodies like the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) want to know if the committee who wrote the standard had an open process for any interested party to participate or if there was a balance of writers from all parts of industry, such as producers, users, and consultants. If the standards your company follows are ANSI accredited, you can be sure they follow these guidelines. A balance of committee members is important for those who want due-process safeguards that ANSI provides, said Jay Moskowitz, director of the ANSI standards developer audit program in New York. "Although it depends on who the developer is whether due process is important," he said. "Some companies need to get standards out quickly, so they go to consortia," where groups get together to develop standards more quickly, but lack a balance of interest in the committee members. "With consortia, there's no audit or procedures accredited for certain requirements," he said. It also depends on what the group needs.