What are the highlight articles of 2019?
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There have been many events in 2019 that will have impacted us both personally and professionally. January 2020 will mark the new decade and usher in a new period of political and economic change.
Each month, the BSI Member Portal has been publishing articles about different topics – from electric vehicles to how to go greener with standards – exclusively for members.
To round up the year we now bring you a recap of the best articles from 2019. You might even find one that you missed! Will your favourite article be listed?
Standards beyond Brexit
In February we got the news that Theresa May’s meaningful vote had been delayed until Tuesday, 12 March. At the time, we wanted to give our members an update.
'As part of BSI's international influence we have agreed a plan that secures BSI's full membership of the European standards organizations CEN and CENELEC post-Brexit. This comes as part of a transition period for the amendment of the organizations' statutes, from the date of exit until the end of 2020, when a permanent solution will be implemented.
More specifically, UK experts will continue as chairs, convenors, committee members, and policy experts to work on shaping and maintaining the 20,000 European standards managed by CEN and CENELEC'.
The updated fire standards series: what you should know
In March, BSI published a major revision of its series of fire safety engineering (FSE) standards to reflect the latest thinking on fire safety. BS 7974:2019, Application of fire safety engineering principles to the design of buildings – Code of practice, is the first revision of this key standard since 2001.
The updated standard is aimed at all FSE practitioners and is also relevant for members of various professions, including firefighters, government departments, universities, regulators and insurers.
We covered what's new in the standard and how it should be used, and detail the Published Documents that accompany the release.
A Safe Place to Work
In June, BSI produced a new guide, A Safe Place to Work: The role of standards in shaping the future of health and safety.
This was in response to changes in industry and changing health and safety issues. This guide helps employers navigate their way through the health and safety landscape.
It features expert opinions, case studies from different industries and countries, and an overview of standards governing occupational health and safety (OH&S) management.
It also outlines how ISO 45001:2018, Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, aims to enable organizations to manage risk by promoting a safe and healthy workforce.
The secret symbols of welders
As our towns and cities age, the talents of welders will be needed more than ever. Welders will continue to rebuild our bridges, buildings and roads using instructions from a set of standardized symbols.
In June we wrote about the revised BS EN ISO 2553:2019, Welding and allied processes – Symbolic representation on drawings – Welded joints.
This standard enables welders and those who work with them to make consistent welding symbols in drawings and to give unequivocal and standardized requirements on joint type, geometry, dimensions and other complementary information within their organization or to external contractors.
GDPR and data protection
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force across the European Union on 25 May 2018. In October we gave members an update about how it was going 18 months after GDPR launched.
'As more businesses collect and store personal data from platforms like mobile phone apps, loyalty schemes … and connected devices, it is now vital for organizations to comply with laws governing its storage and treatment.'
We explored GDPR 2016/679, the EU law governing everyone's fundamental right to the protection of personal information. The article also set out some challenges to come and highlighted three 'takeaways' for data protection officers.
Challenges for electric vehicles
It's expected that the number of electric vehicles on the road around the world will hit 125 million by 2030. Whether you have an electric vehicle or are considering the use of one, September's article on five challenges affecting the industry is a great read.
We looked at each problem and then pointed at solutions that might help, including:
- having a limited number of charging points;
- 'range anxiety';
- the available support for charging bays;
- who pays for the electricity; and
- problems with charging up at stations.
Three ways to help your company go greener with BSI
September was also dedicated to raising awareness about climate change. This article looked at three ways to enable your organization to go greener.
- Install a roof garden: Because urban environments have such limited 'green space opportunities', companies have broken 'the sky’s the limit' thinking with ingenious uses for passive spaces.
- Optimize your business areas to reduce waste: In business we're used to using resources in a linear economy in a 'take, make, dispose' model that has been prevalent for many decades. There is now a wide move to a circular economy model, where businesses are improved through the way they recover and reuse resources.
- Implement a sustainable energy management system: BSI has produced a free report on sustainability looking at the way organizations are using standards to help support the UN Sustainability Development Goals.
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