ISO has just published a new guide to help standards writers address basic risk management issues in the preparation of new or revised standards, regardless of the business or industry sector for which they are intended.
Many ISO and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) technical committees develop standards which have risk management aspects. The guide is intended to promote a coherent approach to the description of risk management activities and the use of risk management terminology, as well as contribute to a common understanding of risk management amongst standards-developing organizations.
ISO/IEC Guide 73, Risk management – Vocabulary – Guidelines for use in standards, 16 pages, price 74 Swiss francs, is available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list) and from ISO Central Secretariat: customerservice@iso.org
According to Hideyu Yoshimura, Secretary of the working group on risk management terminology which developed the new document, Guide 73 is a strategic tool in the preparation or revision of a standard that includes risk management aspects. "The ISO/IEC Guide 73 offers users not only risk management vocabulary, but also by extension, a generic overview of risk management practices. The terms and definitions provided in the guide apply to every industry and have been written in an easy-to-read format using language everyone can relate to."
The guide covers 29 terms and definitions for risk management which are categorized into one of four groups: basic terms, terms related to people or organizations affected by risk, terms related to risk assessment and terms related to risk treatment and control.
"Activity in the field of the risk management is in a very rapid state of movement and if necessary, the working group on risk management terminology will be reconvened two years after publication of the Guide 73, in order to follow up without any delay on the activity. Consequently, JISC (the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee), the ISO member for Japan, will monitor and collect the information on the guide with support from Standards Australia," further noted Mr. Yoshimura.
"It is hoped that ISO/IEC Guide 73 will be widely used and that comments enabling the guide to progress for the future will come from as many quarters as possible. A form on which to make comments on ISO/IEC Guide 73 is being provided on the following Web site: www.jsa.or.jp/default_english.asp."
