How Standards Are Tributaries of Regulations and Compliance Management
Standards and regulations are often used interchangeably in the context of compliance management. While these types of documents are related, they are not identical. It is essential for regulatory compliance professionals to understand how they work together, where they differ, and why they are so often mixed up.
Regulations Do Not Equal Standards, but Both Matter in Regulatory Compliance
Regulations are sets of rules and guidelines created by governments or organizations accredited by a government agency – regulators. For example, in the USA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a government agency that regulates Occupational, Health and Safety. Regulators often create the rules and also control their applications. In the case where certification is required, another party can conduct compliance testing and inspections, with results reported to the regulator. There are thousands of testing, inspections, and certification bodies globally; the largest ones are SGS, Intertek, UL, and BV, competing alongside smaller organizations in regulatory compliance.
Depending on which jurisdiction has the authority over a particular matter (e.g., at a federal, state level in the USA/provincial level in Canada), regulations may change their “flavour” from one jurisdiction to another based on local needs, which in turn are dictated by the economic, geographic, demographic or even political circumstances of the jurisdiction. As a result, many components of environmental, health and safety regulations are undergoing continuous revisions to keep them on point.
Understanding Standards is Critical for Regulatory Compliance
Standards are one of the tributaries of information feeding the regulatory process. Broadly described, standards are the universal best practices documented by experts in their field. Standards are created by standards development organizations, of which there are about 400 worldwide, with close to 200 in the USA. All these organizations can be categorized into three broad groups:
International organizations
National standards bodies
All the rest of the standards development organizations
Each of these organizations maintains thousands of standards, but they only impact regulatory compliance if referenced in regulation. According to various estimates, about 60% of all standards are part of the regulation, making them one of the core content types for regulatory compliance management.
For example, Occupational, Health and Safety regulations in the province of British Columbia, Canada, reference standards from close to 20 different organizations. They draw from the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards on acceptable air quality, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) specifications for personal noise dosimeters and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) for procedures for measuring occupational noise exposure, among many other standards. That is a lot of acronyms to track! Compliance professionals are responsible for following the requirements in the specific edition of a standard referenced in regulation.
An Easy Way to Track for Changes in Standards and Regulations
Citation Manage™ takes the guesswork out of following regulations for the regulatory compliance manager, as well as standards professionals. It monitors the changes in standards that feed into regulations on your behalf. Since regulations are jurisdiction–driven, meaning requirements may be different for different company locations, Citation Manage™ will set up the relevant tasks so that you have clarity about the next steps in your regulatory compliance plan at any moment.
Get in touch here to learn more about Citation Manage™ today.
