Electronic documentation could make keeping up a little less daunting

By Gregg Mosley, Communications Vice President, and Roberta Burrows, Executive Director, IEST

Do you ever feel lost in trying to keep up with new and revised international standards and recommended practices? If feedback from our many colleagues is a good indicator, you are not alone in wishing there was something akin to a GPS system to guide you through the ever-changing landscape of standards. While the GPS system may be wishful thinking, the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) is working the roadway to both increased standards awareness and improved standards access.

In the not-so-distant past, Fed. Std. 209 was the main document used in the United States in contamination control operations and contracts. The revisions moved along the alphabet from “A” to “E,” making it easy to keep up with any changes. We now live in a world dominated by global events, global businesses, and global economies. Standardization is not only integral but necessary, resulting in the need for publication of generic guidance documents (ISO standards) and more specific Recommended Practices (IEST RPs). As of this writing, ISO Technical Committee 209, Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments (ISO/TC 209), has ten published International standards, one document under development, and four published documents under revision. IEST has 27 published recommended practices and standards with many more in various stages of development.

To steer you down the express lane to the official ISO standards, IEST will soon be providing all ISO cleanroom standards in searchable electronic format. No more worrying about where you left your dog-eared printed copy of contamination control’s cornerstone ISO 14644-1, Cleanrooms and Associated Controlled Environments