World Standards Day: Celebrating contributors

Every October, Standards Australia celebrates World Standards Day, recognising the incredible benefits of standards and their role in enhancing daily lives. This day also highlights the organisation’s mission to empower communities and the crucial contributions of committee members and stakeholders.

For over 100 years, Standards Australia has been creating benchmarks that ensure safety, efficiency, and innovation across the nation. This legacy is a testament to the dedication and expertise of countless individuals from technical, business, academic, government, and community backgrounds, who form our Technical Committees. Together, we have developed and adopted standards that shape everything from the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge to the latest advancements in cybersecurity.

On this World Standards Day, we honour the collaborative spirit and unwavering commitment of all contributors who have helped build this century-long legacy.  

In celebration of another centenary milestone, we highlight the achievements of Stan Ambrose OAM, one of Standards Australia’s longest contributing committee members. He is of the ‘ANZAC tradition,’ a generation he describes as not wanting to seek out praise for their sacrifices and accomplishments. However, one cannot ignore the significant positive impact Mr Ambrose has had on his industry and the associated standards.

The 98-year-old World War II veteran became involved with standards development in 1957, representing the Department of Navy on ME-001 - Pressure Equipment.

In 1997, Stan was awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to pressure equipment standards. He says half of his OAM belongs to his beloved late wife Barb who he credits with helping him greatly.

“I first saw the value in standards while I was studying at the University of Melbourne and the SAA Boiler Code AS CB-1 1931 greatly impressed me,” Mr Ambrose told Standards Australia.

“It democratically gave highly authoritative knowledge produced by expert volunteers representing Australian regulatory and industry needs.”

Mr Ambrose’s technical skillset and ability to empathise and learn from tragic events contributed to his approach to standards development. Two particular events and the resulting standards have remained with him across the years.

“During a maintenance check inside a large pressure cooker, low pressure steam was suddenly admitted – a maintenance foreman and a young worker escaped, but sadly the latter passed,” he says.

As a result, Mr Ambrose and the technical committee responsible for AS/NZS 3788, Pressure Equipment, updated the standard to give guidance on suitable isolation of pressure equipment, in the hopes that another tragic accident can be avoided.

Mr Ambrose also recalls a time he came across a new type of American beer-barrel that appeared safer and easier to transport than those made in Australia. There were instances where the Australian barrels caused death and injuries. He made the decision, after special tests and despite industry and manufacturing pressure, to accept the design and have the standard changed, thinking it would save a few lives.

“This change saved about 30 lives, and $100 million,” he says.

Since 1957, Mr Ambrose, through ME-001, has been involved in publishing over 170 different types of publications – a legacy to be celebrated.

“The research and development, cooperation and involvement with Australian and international standards has been a great learning and giving experience with top people. It helped Australia, and in 1991 helped save my own life.”

Learn more about other outstanding contributors here.