British Standards Institute wants consumers to help set standards

To mark 60 years of consumer involvement in helping to set standards for products and services, the British Standards Institution (BSI) has launched a drive to involve more members of the public in its work.

In the early days of its work, from 1951, members of the public volunteered their services through the Women's Advisory Committee (WAC).

This has now evolved into the BSI Consumer and Public Interest Network, whose focus is to encourage consumer contributions into the standards development process.

The BSI said this adds a balanced, impartial view and helps to produce standards that reflect more accurately the needs and desires of the entire marketplace.

Where early tasks included defining the optimum vest length, or safe use of pressure cookers, today consumers are just as likely to be asked to comment on web accessibility, data protection or parental control software.

In 2007 Kitemarks for parental control software were discussed and in January this year, the BSI awarded a Kitemark for an online child safety product to help parents protect their children from inappropriate content.

Anne Ferguson, the BSI's manager for Consumer and Public Interest Standardisation at said: "Our standards now cover a wide range of products and services from garden tools to mobile phone emissions.

The BSI Consumer and Public Interest Network not only promotes safer, healthier and more environmentally sound products and services, it also increases consumer confidence in the quality and reliability of products and services."

The BSI told us that there are a number of ways people can become involved. From becoming a committee member to commenting on draft standards, it said everyone can play a part.

"We need a wide range of skills from those who know a lot to those with an interest," the organisation said. Find out how to get involved with the BSI here.