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Standards as Risk Management Tools

Assessment of hazards is an essential part of the standards development process, when drafting and publishing a standard.

Voluntary standards embody the expertise of all stakeholders – consumers, business, authorities, the civil society. They play a key role in preventing events that could compromise business efficiency and at the same time have undesirable consequences on workers, on communities living close by, on the natural environment and on society: see the opening speech by Rob Steele – ISO Secretary-General –at the UNECE Conference: "International Standards – A vital tool to assess and manage risk in daily life and in business”.

Standards also help improve the managerial control of risks within all organizations. In particular ISO 31000, the ISO 14000 series, the ISO 9000 series, the ISO/IEC 27000 series come from different spheres and address different components of business risks, including operational, environmental, occupational health and safety, information security and financial risks.

A number of weak points remain in the risk management process within companies and nonprofit organizations Standards can also play a role as ground basis for cooperation between business and authorities in better managing risks and hazards.