Technical Standards: Freely Available Standards Related to COVID-19
This page was created specifically in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic for those UB affiliated faculty, staff, and students who need to access standards for personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks and gowns, as well as medical equipment. Many standards developing organizations are making standards related to these topics freely accessible, in response to the crisis.
Please note, UB has full access to all ASTM standards through the ASTM Compass database and all IEEE standards through the IEEE Xplore database. See links below, on the right side of the screen, to access these databases.
For freely accessible standards related to COVID-19, please refer to the list below.
If you have questions, please contact the Engineering Librarian, Erin Rowley, at epautler@buffalo.edu.
Available Standards
The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has made standards freely accessible for PPE, including masks, gloves, gowns, as well as ventilators. Additional guidance is provided for other related equipment like clinical thermometers, infusion pumps, and sterilization and disinfection.
https://www.aami.org/news-resources/covid-19-updates/coronavirus-resources-for-the-field
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has created a portal, Freely Available ISO and IEC Standards to Help Address COVID-19 Crisis, that includes (as of 4/14/2020) 36 international standards covering medical equipment and devices – including ventilators and respiratory equipment; protective clothing used in health care settings; and business continuity management, security, and resilience.
The standards are accessible in read-only format at no cost during the crisis; additional standards may be added in the future. To access the portal, users must accept the license agreement and register. Once registered, users can return to the portal via https://asc.ansi.org.
ASTM International is providing no-cost public access to important ASTM standards used in the production and testing of personal protective equipment - including face masks, medical gowns, gloves, and hand sanitizers - to support manufacturers, test labs, health care professionals, and the general public as they respond to the global COVID-19 public health emergency.
https://www.astm.org/COVID-19/
The European Commission is offering free access to 11 standards developed by CEN and potentially 3 additional ones developed jointly with ISO that are made available cover common filtering masks, medical gloves, and protective clothing. The press release lists all 11 standards (and the 3 potential standards) as well as provides information on how to access them. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_502
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has identified articles and standards from the IEEE Xplore digital library that may help researchers. All content in this collection is now free to access for the duration of the global health crisis, with additional rights for all types of reuse, including full text and data mining, and analysis.
To access documents, click on the "View Documents" button; to narrow by standards, select Standards from above the search results set.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/free-access-to-thousands-of-covid19-research-documents
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has compiled a list of standards to support global efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. They are freely available in read-only format. They cover PPE products, medical devices including ventilators and other medical electrical equipment.
https://www.iso.org/covid19-members
Other Guides to Review
Several other academic institutions have put together Guides related to standards and COVID-19. Please check these for additional information and resources.
- COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Information Guide - University of TorontoIncludes resources and lists specific standards for making PPE, medical devices, and medical supplies.
- Freely Available Standards COVID-19 - Purdue UniversityThis guide provides a listing of standards organizations that have made some standards freely accessible in response to COVID-19.
Full Text Access to Standards
- ASTM Compass This link opens in a new windowProvides full text access to ASTM standards, manuals, papers, and journal articles. More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new windowProvides full text access to IEEE and IET publications. More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- SAE Mobilus This link opens in a new windowProvides full text access to SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) current and historical standards for ground vehicles, aerospace, and aerospace materials. More InfoPartial Full-Text UB ONLY
- ASCE Amplify This link opens in a new windowProvides online access to the ASCE 7 standard.More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- National Fire Codes (NFPA) This link opens in a new windowFull-text, read-only access to all National Fire Codes and Standards. More InfoFull-Text PUBLIC
Engineering Librarian
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260
epautler@buffalo.edu