ATOL Articles

Who is ISO?

Written by Jackie Stapleton | 24 February 2021 3:32:56 AM

ISO Standards ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and good quality

What does ISO stand for?

ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization. Gee, that’s a mouth full! It has a membership of about 162 national standards bodies and brings together experts to develop relevant International Standards while providing solutions for global changes. 

So where did the name ISO come from?

Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO.

ISO was formed in 1947 by a group of delegates from 25 different countries. The very first ISO standard called ISO/R 1:1951 was first published in 1951 to set a standard reference temperature for industrial length measurements. This standard is still around today and is ISO 1:2002.

ISO Standards are developed to provide international standards and specifications for products, services and systems.

They are influential in enabling international trade. There are more than 22000 International Standards across almost every industry including technology, food, agriculture and healthcare, over 165 members representing ISO in their country. There is only one member per country and over 793 technical committees and subcommittees to take care of standards development.

ISO Standards and ISO Certification ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and good quality.

To ensure you receive the best training available, we have built an impressive team who guarantee the training is kept up to date and is relevant. Our training team are very experienced Quality, Environment, OH&S and HACCP auditors who have real-world experience in all industry sectors.