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ISA looks into possible standards compliance program

04/12/2005

The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society is studying the feasibility of a new program to document compliance with specific ISA standards.

The Society currently serves the professional development and personnel certification needs of its members with multiple credentialing options for individuals.  A compliance program could help assure end users and interested stakeholders that an eligible entity has conformed to the specific requirements of a particular ISA standard.   Developing a standard compliance program would give ISA a new role in determining conformity assessment in addition to the Society's current standards development role.

"Through compliance to ISA standards, users can have greater confidence that both software and hardware products, as well as implementation methods and solutions are helping them achieve the full benefits of automation. ISA is inviting input from users, vendors, and government agencies as we collect information on this proposed program," commented Ian Verhappen, Vice President of ISA Standards and Practices Department. 

ISA is globally recognized as a standards writing organization, developing consensus standards in areas such as automation, security, safety, batch control, control valves, fieldbus, environmental conditions measurement, and symbols.  Accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ISA has published more than 135 standards, recommended practices, and technical reports.

A consultant will be assisting ISA in evaluating potential interest and the overall feasibility of the standards certification concept.  Various ISA constituents will be contacted in coming months to provide input on this important issue by means of online surveys, telephone interviews or as part of a focus group(s).   Questions regarding this feasibility study can be addressed to Lois Ferson, Manager, Standards and Technical Publications at lferson@isa.org.