Who Needs Standards?
I just spent two and a half days getting up to speed on the new ASIS SPC.1-2009 Organizational Resilience standard. Aside from getting up close and personal with the standard, an interesting part of the course was an insight into how standards are developed and the rivalry between standards setting bodies.
We often forget that as important as standards are, they are also business products. Organizations frequently charge for you to get a peek at their standards and offer you high-priced training packages. Consultants charge for helping you implement standards. Auditors charge for certifying that you are in conformance with standards. Given all this money floating around, it should come as no surprise that standards may not always be written with your best interests in mind.
I'm not saying that it's wrong to offset the costs of developing standards by charging for them or to make money from helping to implement or certify standards. That would be a bit sanctimonious coming from a consultant who encourages the use of standards. However, there are a few caveats I'd like to suggest if you're considering using a standard:
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Don't make a standard an end in itself. Standards are tools to help improve your emergency program. Your goal in implementing a standard should not be to achieve certification under that standard but to improve your program.
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Decide which standard you're going to adopt by considering the needs of your organization and your long range goals rather basing your decision on external factors. If you work internationally, adopting an ISO (International Organization for Standardizaiton) standard might work better for you than one of the American National Standards. If you eventually want third party certification, an auditable standard may be more useful than one that does not have auditable criteria.
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Don't implement standards one by one in a vacuum. Implementing standards can consume resources, so you'll want to take a strategic approach that maximizes benefits while minimizing resource commitment.
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Provid input to standards making bodies. Standards are developed through public input to the committees that write them. If you're not happy with part of a standard, provide feedback!
If you've read Emergency Management: Concepts and Strategies for Effective Programs, you know that I'm a big supporter of standards. But never forget that standards are tools and, like all tools, can be misused if you don't concentrate on what you're doing!