Standard for data protection revised to address ever-increasing threats to personal information

BSI, the business standards company, has updated its standard for data protection. BS 10012:2017 Data protection – specification for a personal information management system was developed to provide best practice guidance for leaders responsible for the management of personal information.

The revised standard specifies requirements for an organization to adopt a personal information management system (PIMS). PIMS provides a framework for maintaining and improving compliance with data protection requirements. The standard is also intended to provide clear guidance for internal and external assessors on assessing compliance with data protection requirements.

The standard is applicable for organizations of all sizes and sectors. Changes from the 2009 version of BS 10012 include a new definition of personal and sensitive data; restrictions on profiling using personal data; and new administrative requirements for data privacy officers.

Data written under a pseudonym is now specifically covered, and there are stricter requirements for consent for processing. BSI 10012 also takes into account a change in the law to cover data processors.

Implementing BS 10012 will support many organizations in their adoption of an appropriate “Information Governance” strategy. Information Governance is a set of multi-disciplinary structures, policies, procedures and processes taken to manage information. Information Governance supports an organization’s immediate and future regulatory, legal, risk, environmental and operational requirements.

Anne Hayes, Head of Governance and Resilience at BSI, said: “BS 10012 will provide organizations with structured guidance on implementing a common-sense strategy to handle personal information as securely as possible. It will also provide confidence to employees at all levels of an organization that decision-makers take the hot-button issue of data security seriously.

“Data protection remains a leading concern for organizations of all shapes and sizes – as well as the public at large. BS 10012 addresses these concerns.”

Many of the changes in the latest version of BS 10012 have been written in recognition of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which became law on April 14, 2016. The GDPR will be directly applicable to the UK and member states on May 25, 2018.

Key organizations involved in the development of BS 10012 include Information Commissioners Office (ICO); National Association of Data Protection Officers (NADPO); Data Protection Forum; Department for Culture, Media and Sport; International Association of Privacy Professionals; Information and Records Management Society; British Computer Society; Financial Services Records Management Forum; Financial Conduct Authority; Information Security Forum.

Sludge, an added-value for a cleaner agriculture

European Standards help Europe to achieve its objectives of a circular economy by contributing to recycling and sustainability at large. Agriculture is one of the biggest European economic sector, but is still the origin of different sources of pollution. Hence, European standardization is essential for agriculture in defining tools and methods that are environmental-friendly in specific agricultural domains, such as the use of sludge, mainly sewage sludge.

Sewage sludge is the organic by-product of urban wastewater treatment, which has a lot of potential as a source of nutrients to be spread on land as a fertiliser or an organic soil improver. The sludge tends to concentrate heavy metals, poorly biodegradable trace of organic compounds, of pharmaceutical and personal care products, as well as of potentially pathogenic organisms that are present in waste waters. Therefore, it has to be sufficiently treated and carefully used before it can be applied on farmland to prevent any harmful effect on the environment and on human health. In Europe, the European Union Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) encourages the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and regulates its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects.

Not all European Countries use sewage sludge in agriculture. However, the production of sewage sludge in Europe is generally increasing under the impulse of European Union Directives such as the ‘Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive’ and the ‘Sewage Sludge Directive’ on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture. It is expected to approach 13 million tons of production in 2020.

The use of sewage sludge in agriculture in Europe corresponds to approximately 45 % of the amount of sludge produced (following a report from the European Commission to the European Parliament issued in 2017). Following studies, the good application of sewage provides benefits in the recycling of plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Sludge can therefore replace chemical fertilisers.

European standardization work on sludge

At standardization level, our CEN Technical Committee CEN/TC 308 on ‘characterization and management of sludge’ is developing sampling methods, physical, chemical and biological analyses required for characterizing the sludge with a view to facilitating decisions on the choice of the treatment procedures and of the utilization.

CEN/TC 308 produced a Technical Report specifically related to agricultural uses of sludge:

CEN/TR 13097:2010
Characterization of sludges – Good practice for sludge utilisation in agriculture
This Technical Report describes good practice for the use of sludge in agriculture (where regulations allow). The use of all types of sludge should follow good practice to maximise benefits for the crops or soils, to minimise potential risks of environmental contamination and adverse impacts on plant, animal and human health, and to ensure sustainability, energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Sludge, an added-value for a cleaner agriculture

European Standards help Europe to achieve its objectives of a circular economy by contributing to recycling and sustainability at large. Agriculture is one of the biggest European economic sector, but is still the origin of different sources of pollution. Hence, European standardization is essential for agriculture in defining tools and methods that are environmental-friendly in specific agricultural domains, such as the use of sludge, mainly sewage sludge.

Sewage sludge is the organic by-product of urban wastewater treatment, which has a lot of potential as a source of nutrients to be spread on land as a fertiliser or an organic soil improver. The sludge tends to concentrate heavy metals, poorly biodegradable trace of organic compounds, of pharmaceutical and personal care products, as well as of potentially pathogenic organisms that are present in waste waters. Therefore, it has to be sufficiently treated and carefully used before it can be applied on farmland to prevent any harmful effect on the environment and on human health. In Europe, the European Union Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) encourages the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and regulates its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects.

Not all European Countries use sewage sludge in agriculture. However, the production of sewage sludge in Europe is generally increasing under the impulse of European Union Directives such as the ‘Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive’ and the ‘Sewage Sludge Directive’ on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture. It is expected to approach 13 million tons of production in 2020.

The use of sewage sludge in agriculture in Europe corresponds to approximately 45 % of the amount of sludge produced (following a report from the European Commission to the European Parliament issued in 2017). Following studies, the good application of sewage provides benefits in the recycling of plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Sludge can therefore replace chemical fertilisers.

European standardization work on sludge

At standardization level, our CEN Technical Committee CEN/TC 308 on ‘characterization and management of sludge’ is developing sampling methods, physical, chemical and biological analyses required for characterizing the sludge with a view to facilitating decisions on the choice of the treatment procedures and of the utilization.

CEN/TC 308 produced a Technical Report specifically related to agricultural uses of sludge:

CEN/TR 13097:2010
Characterization of sludges – Good practice for sludge utilisation in agriculture
This Technical Report describes good practice for the use of sludge in agriculture (where regulations allow). The use of all types of sludge should follow good practice to maximise benefits for the crops or soils, to minimise potential risks of environmental contamination and adverse impacts on plant, animal and human health, and to ensure sustainability, energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Have you ever wondered how to tell if air is clean

 Air pollution has long been a problem in nations all around the world. The World Health Organization has observed that up to 1 in 9 of total global deaths are linked to exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution.1 Smart cities, better waste management, clean energy and sustainable industrial practices should all lead to improvements in air quality around the world, but how do we measure the quality of the air? Standards Australia recently completed revisions of two standards addressing air quality:

   • AS 3580.9.9:2017, Methods for sampling and analysis of ambient air, Method 9.9: Determination of suspended particulate matter—PM10 low volume sampler— Gravimetric method

• AS 3580.9.10:2017, Methods for sampling and analysis of ambient air, Method 9.10: Determination of suspended particulate matter—PM2.5 low volume sampler— Gravimetric method Particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 are pollutants that present a significant community concern worldwide. These forms of particulates are respirable and present major public health issues.

AS 3580.9.9 and AS 3580.9.10 set out methods for detecting PM10 and PM2.5 in order to assess air quality. These Australian documents were revised to make them consistent with other contemporary particulate matter standards. Technical committee EV-007, Methods for Examination of Air, was responsible for this project. Chair of the committee, Mr Frank Fleer, commented on the revisions. “EV-007 takes its responsibility in maintaining accurate and reliable standards for the measurement of these pollutants very seriously. It’s both an environmental concern and a major health issue affecting many communities worldwide. “Consequently we felt it was necessary to update these documents to reflect modern quality

Consultation commences on new draft standard for On-Site Battery Systems Standards

Australia has released for consultation a draft voluntary standard, DR AS/NZS 5139:201X Electrical installations – safety of battery systems for use with power conversion equipment. The standard, prepared jointly by Australian and New Zealand stakeholders, includes provision for:

• Installation requirements for all battery systems connected to inverter energy systems, covering all battery types;

 • Mitigating hazards associated with battery energy storage system installations; and

• Classifying batteries based on hazards, rather than chemistry type.

The release of the draft for public consultation aligns with the recommendations of the Roadmap for Energy Storage Standards released by Standards Australia in February 2017. In the Roadmap, stakeholders identified the need to develop a Standard for the safe installation of battery energy storage systems as a top priority. The location of battery systems in homes The development of the draft standard has not been without controversy. Earlier in 2017, concerns were raised in the media that the draft standard would seek to ban lithium-ion batteries in homes. Since then, experts from industry and government together with community interests have continued to work together to prepare the consultation draft.

The draft standard currently includes provisions to minimise the risk of self-sustaining fires. In considering the fire hazards associated with some of these systems, the draft contains provisions that exclude certain battery systems from being installed inside domestic homes. They may be installed externally and adjoining to domestic homes provided certain fire related safety measures are met. These provisions have been included to try to safeguard against hazards during potential failure modes of a storage system, in the absence of available product standards. In arriving at this consultation draft, it is clear that different views exist amongst stakeholders as to whether the draft provisions are set appropriately and whether the benefits of emergent technology are appropriately balanced with community safety expectations. Given the level of interest in the introduction of battery storage in homes, public comment on the draft is sought in particular on Clauses 4.5.3 and Table 3.1 of the draft.

The release of the draft standard comes less than a week after the release of the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market (the Finkel Report) where it was noted that consumer demand could drive the number of on-site battery storage systems installed in Australian homes to more than 1 million by 2035. Why doesn’t Australia just use International Standards? There are no international electrical installation standards for battery energy storage systems.

The draft has been developed by Australian and New Zealand stakeholders who share a common regulatory and technical standards framework. The use of on-site battery storage systems is an emerging area of development internationally, with different countries setting different requirements within their own jurisdictions. The draft document references and aligns with a number of international standards particularly as they relate to system components. Who has developed this draft? The technical committee responsible for developing this document is EL-042 Renewable Energy Power Supply Systems and Equipment. The committee includes stakeholders from industry, government, academia and other interest groups, as listed in the attachment. What is the process from here?

All comments received during the 9 week public comment period will be considered in detail and resolved by the technical committee and, if substantive changes are made to the draft, the document will be released for a further period of consultation. Once all comments are resolved, a vote will be undertaken by the technical committee as to whether the document is published, or not. The use of all Australian Standards is voluntary and governments may choose to reference Australian Standards and other documents in regulation. Access the draft and submit comments through our Public Comment portal. All comments must be received by 15 August 2017.

ISO 50001 highlighted as key tool for climate action at Clean Energy Ministerial

With energy one of the most critical challenges facing the international community, the revision of ISO 50001 on energy management systems was given a major boost at the recently concluded Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8), a high-level global forum working to advance clean energy globally.

Energy ministers and high-level decision makers, together with technical experts and private-sector leaders, gathered in Beijing, China, for the CEM8 to discuss how to scale renewables, improve efficiency and cooperate on clean energy initiatives. A series of side events, forums and workshops were organized, including an International Workshop on Improving Green Consumption featuring the benefits of ISO 50001.

Developers responsible for ISO 50001 also met in Beijing at the annual meeting of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 301, Energy management and energy savings. One of the main outcomes of the plenary was the revision of ISO 50001, which after six years of existence is being updated to ensure it remains a useful tool for all types of businesses and organizations around the world.

Sufficient progress and consensus were achieved to enable the revision of ISO 50001 to move to a Draft International Standard, which is expected to be completed and released within three months. Publication of the new edition of ISO 50001 as an International Standard is currently planned for November/December 2018.

Deann Desai, Convenor of the working group revising the energy standard, commented on its improvements: “One of the main changes for the 2018 version is in the incorporation of the High-Level Structure which provides for improved compatibility with other management systems standards. There are other improvements in the 2018 version to help ensure that the key concepts related to energy performance are clear for small and mid-size businesses.”

Published in 2011, ISO 50001 transforms the way organizations manage their energy, offering companies a comprehensive approach to continually improve energy performance, sustainability and their bottom line. It has value both as a best-practice model and as a global benchmark for climate and clean energy action. In fact, nearly 12 000 organizations were already certified to the standard at the end of 2015 – up 77 % from the previous year.

CEM analysis shows that implementation of the ISO 50001 standard across the commercial and industrial sectors globally could drive cumulative energy savings of approximately 62 exajoules by 2030, sparing nearly USD 600 billion in energy costs and avoiding 6 500 million metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The projected annual emissions savings are equivalent to removing 215 million passenger vehicles from the road.

ISO/TC 301

Roland Risser, Chair of ISO/TC 301, Energy management and energy savings, explains: “ISO 50001 provides a scalable, cost-effective and continuous energy management pathway for organizations that might not have otherwise performed these improvements, and allows organizations to demonstrate and verify to international parties and partners that they are committed to continuously improve their energy performance.”

CEM8 also recognized the winners of the Award of Excellence in Energy Management, an international competition that honours companies successfully using ISO 50001. The Award is an initiative of the Energy Management Working Group (EMWG) at the Clean Energy Ministerial, which participates in the work of ISO/TC 301.

The revision of ISO 22000 on food management moves one step further

Revision is ongoing for ISO 22000 on food safety management systems, which has just reached the Draft International Standard (DIS) stage. The revised standard will incorporate a new core structure as well as recognized key elements to ensure food safety at every step of the food chain.

The ISO 22000 revision aims to consolidate the most recent issues surrounding food safety to suit the current landscape of the food sector. It is a very comprehensive process and the working group revising the standard has covered several extensive concepts. The experts met three times in 2016 and processed 1 800 comments from a variety of global stakeholders representing a broad range of positions. Now, their main task is to translate the revised concepts included in the standard and communicate these to the users in a clear and concise manner that makes ISO 22000 easier to understand and implement for organizations of all sizes, in every aspect of the food chain.

The new version of ISO 22000 will contain a number of minor alterations that have been introduced to increase the readability and clarity of the standard, as well as some substantial changes that are more structural in nature. The main highlights are as follows:

.         The new version will adopt ISO’s new High-Level Structure (HLS), which is the common framework for all management systems standards. This common structure makes it easier for businesses to integrate more than one management system into their processes at a given time.

.         The revised standard will provide a new understanding of the notion of “risk”. Risk is a vital concept for food businesses and the standard will distinguish between risk at the operational level (through the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approach, or HACCP) and risk at the strategic level of the management system (business risk) with its ability to embrace opportunities in order to reach a business’s specific goals.

.         The standard will clarify the distinction between two Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles. The first applies to the management system as a whole while the second, embedded within it, addresses the operations described in Clause 8, which simultaneously covers the principles of HACCP defined by the Codex Alimentarius.

The revised version of ISO 22000 is expected to be published by June 2018.

Revision is ongoing for ISO 22000 on food safety management systems, which has just reached the Draft International Standard (DIS) stage. The revised standard will incorporate a new core structure as well as recognized key elements to ensure food safety at every step of the food chain.

The ISO 22000 revision aims to consolidate the most recent issues surrounding food safety to suit the current landscape of the food sector. It is a very comprehensive process and the working group revising the standard has covered several extensive concepts. The experts met three times in 2016 and processed 1 800 comments from a variety of global stakeholders representing a broad range of positions. Now, their main task is to translate the revised concepts included in the standard and communicate these to the users in a clear and concise manner that makes ISO 22000 easier to understand and implement for organizations of all sizes, in every aspect of the food chain.

The new version of ISO 22000 will contain a number of minor alterations that have been introduced to increase the readability and clarity of the standard, as well as some substantial changes that are more structural in nature. The main highlights are as follows:

.         The new version will adopt ISO’s new High-Level Structure (HLS), which is the common framework for all management systems standards. This common structure makes it easier for businesses to integrate more than one management system into their processes at a given time.

.         The revised standard will provide a new understanding of the notion of “risk”. Risk is a vital concept for food businesses and the standard will distinguish between risk at the operational level (through the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approach, or HACCP) and risk at the strategic level of the management system (business risk) with its ability to embrace opportunities in order to reach a business’s specific goals.

.         The standard will clarify the distinction between two Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycles. The first applies to the management system as a whole while the second, embedded within it, addresses the operations described in Clause 8, which simultaneously covers the principles of HACCP defined by the Codex Alimentarius.

The revised version of ISO 22000 is expected to be published by June 2018.

Smart cities guide for sharing data and information launched

BSI, the business standards company, has launched a new guide on establishing a framework for sharing data and information services in cities.

PAS 183:2017 Smart Cities – guide to establishing a decision-making framework for sharing data and information services – was developed at the request of the Cities Standards Institute in part to support a transparent approach to making decisions. The Cities Standard Institute is a collaboration between BSI and the Future Cities Catapult to create a standards-based community of good practice for cities and the companies they work with.

Creating specific data-sharing agreements can help decision-makers fully realize the benefits and value of data and information services in a city. Currently, data is mostly used for a specific purpose by cities, often related to a public task, with the value of data sharing yet to be fully explored and realized by cities. Data is not yet widely viewed as an essential asset which can be used to transform a city. There is also untapped potential for data to provide the basis for new commercial models in smart cities.

An effective decision-making framework for sharing data can help ensure that city decision-makers – in the public, private and third sectors – have the best overall data to shape their decision making. The consequences for missing data or the misinterpretation of data can lead to wrong actions – sometimes with debilitating consequences an organization or the wider public. 

PAS 183 defines the data framework for sharing city data to enable discussions between the specialists who build and design the physical and digital services and the decisions-makers using data to transform their city.

The guide covers types of data in smart cities; establishing a data sharing culture; a data value chain, and its roles and responsibilities; purposes for data use; assessing data states; defining access rights for data; and data formats of transportation.

Full data interoperability requires a data framework to be created across the entire spectrum of data for a city: open, closed and shared data. For some cities, there will also be a need to establish specific data sharing agreements, particularly where data is being shared by multiple organizations simultaneously.

Dan Palmer, Head of Manufacturing at BSI, said: “PAS 183 was created to make the process of sharing different sets of data as easy as possible, and set out guidelines for appropriate use of data.

“This PAS provides clarity around what types of data can be published as open data, what can be shared and what should be kept private. The sharing of as wide a range of data as possible is essential in order for both city authorities and citizens to make informed decisions about the options open to them.”

This guide is part of a wider suit of PASs, including PAS 180, 181, 182 – guides which defined the vocabulary terms for smart cities, a smart city framework, and a smart city concept model respectively.

PAS 183 does not cover national security issues; good practice for use of data by the citizen; existing inoperability agreements between cities; defining application programming interfaces (API); any data sharing rules and regulations specific to a particular jurisdiction.

The following organizations were involved in the development of PAS 183 as members of the steering group: BSI Consumer & Public Interest Network; Cities Standard Institute; Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction; D4SC Ltd (Design for Social

Change); Digital Built Britain (BIM Task Group); Digital Catapult; FlyingBinary Limited; Fujitsu; Future Cities catapult; Greater London Authority; Imtech Traffic & Infra UK Ltd; iStand UK; Living PlanIT SA; Local Government Association; Centre for the Protection of National

Infrastructure; Ordnance Survey Ltd; Red Ninja; Royal Academy of Engineering; Royal Borough of Greenwich; SmartKlub Ltd; University College London; UrbanDNA.

First UK company certified by BSI and registered on OASIS to new aerospace Quality Management System standard

Produmax is the first UK company to be independently assessed by BSI (British Standards Institution) and achieve certification to prEN 9100:2016 Quality Management Systems. Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defence Organizations. Produmax is also the first organization globally to be registered on OASIS (Online Aerospace Supplier Information System) to prEN 9100.

The revised international standard, which was published in 2016, specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving a Quality Management System (QMS) for organizations in aviation, space and defence. It represents the latest best practice for those in the industry to manage and monitor quality across all operations. 

EN 9100 builds on the revised Quality Management Systems Standard , ISO 9001 which was updated in 2015 to include a high level structure (HLS) – featuring terms, definitions, headings and text common to all management system standards, allowing easier integration when implementing multiple management systems. Top Management also have greater involvement and responsibility in the revised version and are required to ensure that the management system is fully integrated throughout the organization. 

Jeremy Ridyard, Managing Director at Produmax commented: “Attaining this standard is vital for our business as it provides our customers with the comfort that we deliver quality products on time, and that we have the necessary processes in place to manage and reduce risks.

“Our involvement with the Sharing in Growth scheme has definitely helped to prepare us for this transition, alongside the hard work and dedication of our whole team – including BSI. We’re very proud to be the first in the UK to be registered on OASIS.”

Andrew Launn, EMEA Systems Certification Operations  & Compliance Director at BSI said:  “Produmax should be delighted that they are the first UK organization to achieve certification from BSI to the new standard which clearly demonstrates their commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

"AS/EN 9100 is a great tool for any organization that wishes to enhance quality and customer satisfaction, continually improve operations and demonstrate Organizational Resilience. With supply chains becoming more complex, the importance of achieving, maintaining and improving quality is vital.

“We would encourage other BSI customers to make the transition as early as possible and are ready with a fully resourced team of expertly trained auditors to help make the transition as smooth as possible.”  

Some of the other key changes within AS/EN 9100 will allow organizations to:-

• Facilitate continual improvement: Regular assessment will ensure businesses continually use, monitor and improve their processes.

• Increase market opportunities so organizations can demonstrate to clients excellent levels of traceability throughout the supply chain.

• Increase efficiency that will save businesses time, money and resources.

• Ensure compliance with a system supported by regulatory authorities that helps to mitigate risk.

• Motivate, engage and involve staff with more efficient internal processes.

• Help organizations trade as it’s often a requirement of the aerospace industry that companies have implemented a QMS. It also independently demonstrates that they have in operation an effective and audited management system.