ISO standards are set by the International Organization for Standards. There are various different kinds of ISO standards. For example, the ISO 14000 is a family of environmental management standards that helps organizations minimize how their operations affect the environment and comply with applicable regulations. As of 2010, ISO 14001 was used by at least 223,149 organizations in 159 countries and economies. The ISO 5001, which was released on June 15, 2011, is related to energy management.

Of the more than 19,000 International Standards, some 1,000 are dedicated to food, and encompass agricultural machinery, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, labelling, packaging and storage. Some 3,000 Americans die each year from poisoning. If you’re in the food service industry, it is essential to adhere to proper food safety regulations, as bacteria can multiply quickly. The incubation period for E. coli, what of the most common food poisoning causing bacteria has an incubation period of a mere one to ten days. The ISO 9000 family of standards is related to quality management systems and is designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while also meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product. The ISO 9001 requirements deal specifically with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard have to fulfill. You might also want to consider the BRC certification, the servsafe certification, and HACCP certification. The HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) training and certification ensure that food handlers are using the safest and most effective practices, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI certification) is a process improvement approach, which can be used to guide process improvement across a project, division, or organization.

The ISO 20000 certification was the first international standard for IT service management. The ISO 20000 certification was developed in 2005. The Iso 20000 certification was later revised in 2007. The Iso 20000 certification requires an integrated process approach when the service provider plans, establishes, implements, operates, monitors, reviews, maintains and improves a service management system (SMS). The ISO 20000 certification consists of 9 different sections, including scope, normative references, terms and definitions, service management system general requirements, design and transition of new or changed services, service delivery processes, relationship processes, resolution processes, and control processes.