Get started on your standards journey: Explore our collection of freely available resources
Embarking on a journey to adopt and implement standards can be a transformative step for any organization, enhancing quality, efficiency, and global competitiveness.
As the UK’s National Standards Body, we want to encourage every organization - no matter the size or sector - to engage with standards. This is to ensure that their benefits are fully realized at every level, from consumers and businesses, to society, industries, governments, and the global economy.
To facilitate this, we offer a suite of free resources to help you navigate the complexities of standards and begin integrating them into your operations.
Discover our free standards
If you are new to standards and want to understand what they are and what is needed to implement one, you might want to explore our suite of free-to-download publications.
These standards are great tools to help you achieve some of your organizational objectives and demonstrate your commitment to following good practice - from transitioning to net zero to providing an inclusive and safe work environment.
For more information on how to identify which standard your organization needs, read our article How to find the right standards for your business.
IWA 42: The ISO Net Zero Guidelines
Launched at COP27, the ISO Net Zero Guidelines provide a universal baseline for what ‘good looks like’ when it comes to taking net zero action. They tackle the fragmented net zero governance landscape by converging global best practice in one place.
The Guidelines provide a common reference for understanding and planning for net zero for organizations across all sectors, sizes, and jurisdictions.
To learn more about this standard, read our article Net Zero Guidelines: A common understanding of net zero. You can download this standard for free here today.
BS 30416: Menstruation, Menstrual Health and Menopause in the Workplace
Providing adequate support for menstrual and menopausal health is crucial to achieve workforce equity. Discover our free little book of menstruation, menstrual health and menopause to learn more.
BS 30416:2023 is a practical tool with many examples of actions and small adjustments that can be made to improve the wellbeing of people at work who are experiencing menstruation or menopause.
It can also help organizations identify the misconceptions around menstruation and peri/menopause, and the impact the taboo surrounding them can have on workplace support. Find out how Virgin Media O2 have used this standard to strengthen their menopause policies here.
To learn more about this standard, you can download the free executive briefing guide, which explores in more detail what the standard covers, and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
BSI Flex 3030: Net zero transition plans for small and medium enterprise
Whether an organization wants or needs to decarbonize, BSI Flex 3030 v2.0:2024-12 is a nationally agreed standard that explains, in straightforward language, how to start moving to net zero.
The standard gives recommendations for an organization intending to design and implement its transition to net zero through a clearly defined plan leading to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions. A free introductory guide and checklist to using BSI Flex 3030 v2.0:2024-12 has also been developed to provide organizations with further support.
To learn more about this standard, read case studies from SwimTrek, John Pass Jewellers and Brett Nicholls Associates who have all used the standard to help them achieve their net zero goals. You can also download this standard for free here today.
PAS 1948: Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in the Workplace
To help embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) more widely, PAS 1948:2023 gives practical guidance on how to develop and implement an effective DEI framework in any workplace.
It provides recommendations for organizations on how to develop and implement policies and practices to support their diversity, equity and inclusion objectives, in keeping with their existing principles and framework.
To learn more about this standard, watch our on-demand webinar From Awareness to Action: Fostering DEI Excellence. You can download this standard for free here today.
PAS 808: Purpose-Driven Organizations for Delivering Sustainability
PAS 808:2022 gives guidance to governing bodies and executive managers on what a purpose is, how a purpose-driven organization (PDO) approaches decisions, and how it acts. It outlines the worldviews, principles and the associated behaviours and activities of a PDO. It establishes common terms and definitions related to purpose.
The standard outlines how, by becoming a PDO , businesses and other entities can help tackle the enormous dangers of the climate emergency, biodiversity loss and growing income inequality, and meet the increasing demands of society.
To learn more about this standard, you can download the free executive briefing guide, which explores in more detail what the standard covers, and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
BS 25700: Organizational Responses to Modern Slavery
BS 25700:2022 is a pioneering British-led standard, convened by British experts and that will be developed into a future international document.
It provides organizations with guidance for managing the risk of modern slavery, including prevention, identification, response, remediation, mitigation, and reporting modern slavery in its operations, supply chains, and its wider operating environment.
It also encourages organizations to go beyond legal and statutory duties and address the wider risks associated with modern slavery.
To learn more about this standard, you can download the free executive briefing guide, which explores in more detail what the standard covers, and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
BS 25800: Safeguarding for Organizations
Any organization that has regular contact with members of the public needs robust safeguarding arrangements, both to meet public expectations and its statutory duties. BS 25800:2024 shows UK-based organizations how to institute and improve safeguarding practices, reducing the risk of individuals coming to harm or becoming victims of abuse.
It gives guidance on how to provide assurance that measures are in place to keep individuals safe from harm and to respond effectively to safeguarding concerns.
To learn more about this standard, you can download the free executive briefing guide, which explores in more detail what the standard covers, and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
BS 30417: Inclusive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
The idea that one-size-fits-all PPE can protect every worker has never reflected reality.
BS 30417:2025 is a ground-breaking British Standard that provides much-needed guidance to organizations, health and safety professionals, and employees, on how to ensure that PPE works for everyone, not just the mythical ‘average’ worker.
By embedding inclusivity into PPE provision, it addresses not only safety but also wellbeing, belonging and performance in the workplace.
To learn more about this standard, read our article How BS 30417 is shaping the future of inclusive PPE, which explores in more detail what the standard covers, and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
BS 30480: Suicide and the Workplace
In 2023, 7,055 people died by suicide across the UK - an average of 19 lives lost every single day.
For organizations, these realities are not distant statistics. They play out in workplaces of every size and sector. From colleagues navigating the loss of someone they worked alongside, to managers supporting a staff member dealing with bereavement, to customer-facing staff encountering someone in crisis, suicide touches the workplace more often than most of us would like to admit.
BS 30480:2025 the UK’s first dedicated workplace standard on suicide, it provides organizations with a practical, principles-based framework to plan for, respond to, and support people when suicide impacts their workplace. It is adaptable to workplaces of all sizes and sectors, and signposts to specialist advice where needed.
To learn more about this standard, read our article BS 30480: The UK’s first workplace standard on suicide, which explores in more detail what the standard covers and its benefits. You can also download this standard for free here today.
Listen to The Standards Show podcast
For anyone working in standards, using standards, studying and researching standards, or just plain curious about standards, The Standards Show is the podcast that brings you the stories behind the standards.
Join Matthew Chiles and Cindy Parokkil - and their guests along the way - for conversations on the concepts, history, people, and organizations involved in standards. And how they shape and improve the world around us, making life easier, safer, and more enjoyable. From facilitating international trade, to fixing potholes, to brewing the perfect cup of tea.