The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) announced a new set of international standards that covers the quality, safety, security and etiquette for the operation of commercial drones.

ISO 21384-3, Unmanned aircraft systems – Part 3: Operational procedures, is the first International Standard for UAS and specifies internationally agreed and accepted requirements for safe commercial operations.

John Walker, Chair of the ISO subcommittee that developed the standard, said there are hundreds of applications for small UAS alone that will benefit from this standard, including construction, safety, security, mining, maritime operations and more.

“The range of applications is growing fast, but at the same time, the industry is very much in its infancy, and there are a number of key obstacles to overcome before large-scale commercialization is achieved,” he said. “ISO 21384-3 will help resolve those challenges through providing an airworthiness framework for the global UAS industry, allowing for safer and more widespread use.”

The committee is also working on several complementary standards that will address other aspects such as safety, quality and terminology. These include ISO 21384-2, Unmanned aircraft systems – Part 2: Product systems, ISO 21384-4, Unmanned aircraft systems – Part 4: Vocabulary, and ISO 23665, Unmanned aircraft systems – Training for personnel involved in UAS operations.

ISO 21384-3 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 20, Aircraft and space vehicles, subcommittee SC 16, Unmanned aircraft systems, whose secretariat is held by ANSI, ISO’s member for the USA. It can be purchased through the ISO Store.