There was an interesting article written recently titled “Choosing Standards Based on Merit”. Some of the points made in the article (which is available at http://www.astm.org/ABOUT/images/Choosing_Standards.pdf ). The article focused on why certain standards may or may not be adopted and how government agencies can adopt standards.
In Box 1, in the middle of the article, the author wrote that an agency can simply adopt a standard by incorporating it by referencing it. The example of OSHA adopting the National Electrical code was used.
Another point was made under the section “deference in lieu of developing a mandatory standard”.. It was that “An agency may decide that it does not need to issue a mandatory regulation because voluntary compliance with either an existing standard or one developed for the purpose will suffice for meeting the needs of the agency.”
If ISO-55000 (The proposed standard still under development) is completed, how will it impact regulatory agencies? How will OSHA, EPA, FDA, etc. view the proposed ISO-55000 standard? What if OSHA, the EPA, the FDA decides to reference the proposed standard? What if they, as part of their inspections, begin to ask if your organization is voluntarily complying with the proposed ISO-55000?
Does your organization currently have asset management policies and procedures in place? Does your organization currently track the life cycle history (including costs) on assets that are core to it doing business?
There are a lot more questions than answers in this blog. However, they are all questions that any maintenance/ reliability/ asset manager might want to start asking…
-Next blog – from the same article – What is Merit?
