Voluntary consensus standards for health and safety are diverse in their scope, technical approach, industry, and user base. This variation between standards imposes limits on the ability to specify one single approach to measuring the impact of standards on health and safety. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and UL Standards & Engagement formed a working group focused on a set of concepts, frameworks, and considerations that may be used to develop a specific approach based on the standard being assessed and other variables such as the availability of data.
The impact of a standard will change over time. Conformance occurs over time with the diffusion of the standard across the industries or sectors it affects. Products, systems, components, processes, and people subject to the scope of the standard may pre-date the requirements and thus reduce overall conformance. Assessing the impact of a standard requires a structured framework including stakeholder engagement, planning, measurement, and analysis.
ANSI and UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE) have published a white paper, Principles for Measuring the Impact of Voluntary Consensus Standards on Human Health and Safety. It was developed by a working group that included representatives of U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations, and others. Read relevant news.
Topics covered in the white paper include:
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