BSI
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is an organisation that brings together experts from across the designing and manufacturing industries to help devise Standards by which products are measured. BSI was the first Standards organisation in the world with its history dating back to 1901. It is independent from government and trade and industry associations and is a non-profit distributing organisation. This means that all the profit it makes goes back into the service it provides.
What is a Standard?
A Standard is a guide that companies that design and make things need to follow. A Standard tells manufacturers how their products and services can be safe and of a certain quality. The Standard may state maximum sizes, or thickness of certain parts of an object. It may state certain colours that need to be used for things to be safe and ensure that they are seen at night, or it may state a specific way of making a product well in the factory. For example, the standard format which needs to be followed by all credit card manufacturers can be found in the specific BSI Standard BS EN ISO/IEC* 7810:1996. This tells companies that their credit cards need to be a certain size to ensure they fit in all cash machines worldwide. Imagine what it would be like if your card would not fit into a cash-machine while you were abroad on holiday...
Why do we have Standards?
There are currently over 20,000 British Standards. Standards affect our daily lives in many ways, making life easier, safer and healthier. Imagine if bulbs from different companies didn't fit the lamps that you bought, or that CDs didn't fit all CD players. Without Standards for people to follow, then all our products would behave slightly differently, making them hard to operate, to fix or to programme. Standards are created for many different products and services, including pet food, furniture, bikes, televisions, toys and even fabric colours.
How can we show we have Standards?
If a product passes all of the specified independent tests that make up a particular Standard, manufacturers can indicate this by displaying a certification mark on its surface. Products that have not undergone the standardization process are not allowed to do so.
What are the marks?
The most recognised marking of a product that has been made to meet a Standard is the Kitemark. When you see this mark on a product, it means the product has met the Standard associated with that particular type of object. For example, a Kitemark found on a plug means that the plug's design has been independently tested against the safety Standard for electric plugs. This means that users can be sure this particular plug is safe and of a high quality. Products that do not have the Kitemark simply do not have the same safety guarantees.
Another mark is CE marking. As all of the countries in Europe make products and sell them to each other (trade), it is important that consumers and suppliers know that they are producing, selling and buying goods without hindrance. CE marking is designed to remove European Trade barriers, which are the legal regulations that sometimes slow projects down – known as 'red tape'. A product showing CE marking means it meets these European regulations. It is not a safety or quality mark. Some products will show both marks.
How is a Standard produced?
As with all good designing and manufacturing solutions, group work is involved. A Standard is produced when a team of experienced experts discuss, and then decide on, what would make a particular product safe, reliable and of a high quality. Different experts will be used depending on the particular product or service that needs to be standardized. These experts then create a list of rules, ideas and tests that need to be applied to that product. This is known as a draft Standard. The draft Standard is then released to all those who may design, make, sell or use that particular product.
After addressing any important comments on the draft Standards, further discussions are held. Once these are complete, the final Standard is published. These final processes are similar to the evaluation exercises or product analysis that you undertake in project work, where everyone is involved and puts in ideas and suggestions for improvements. The final Standard is identified with letters and numbers, almost like a code, which is much easier than including all of the lengthy descriptions. If a Standard is used in Britain it will contain BS, if used in Europe it will contain EN and if it is used across the world, it will contain ISO.
Standards are updated regularly to make sure they meet the needs of manufacturers, sellers and users, as these needs may change.
Who pays for them?
BSI charges companies to test their products, offers them advice and sells them documents and expertise. BSI acts to provide a service rather than a specific product that can be bought and sold. This money is then used to help produce new Standards and to update existing ones.