NSCA Foundation

Standards Australia helps manufacturers fight COVID-19


Friday, 17 July, 2020

Standards Australia helps manufacturers fight COVID-19

On 29 April, Standards Australia released a detailed map of possible ways to get gloves, masks and surgical gowns from the warehouse to the frontline using Australian facilities. The material was prepared in consultation with the Australian Technical Infrastructure Alliance (ATIA). The “announcement is a step further in not only helping manufacturers identify relevant standards but to get a potential pathway to market including avenues for testing and certification”, Adrian O’Connell, Chief Executive Officer of Standards Australia, said. “The release of this latest guidance demonstrates how quickly we can move as an organisation when we are needed by industry, by governments and by the Australian public.”

Standards Australia has received support from the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS ANZ), the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) and the National Measurement Institute to identify barriers delaying essential personal protective equipment (PPE) from hitting the frontlines. “The publication is a huge achievement by all involved, but again it is not the end of this journey,” O’Connell said. “There is still plenty expected of our manufacturing sector and we don’t want businesses out there going it alone — we are here to help as best we can.” Providing avenues for potential conformance pathways for certain products is one way to assist, Standards Australia said, to join the pieces of the standards and conformance framework to make it easier for industry and domestic manufacturers to move forward and get to market.

“We have set out to do our part to support Australia’s COVID-19 response, by providing information on potentially relevant Australian Standards and corresponding test methods, as well as information on Australian laboratories and certifiers, which we aim to maintain with the Australian Technical Infrastructure Alliance involvement. Standards Australia has a unique ability to understand market challenges, bring together relevant stakeholders and deliver solutions for industry and government,” Daniel Chidgey, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Standards Australia, said. Standards Australia plans to continue to work closely with the government’s COVID-19 taskforces and other stakeholders to assist as required, and play a leading role in supporting the Australian manufacturing sector, Standards Australia said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/StockMediaProduction

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