14th August 2011, 11:34 AM
As someone working for a company with a load of ISOs, its amazing how much they improve the standard (or at least quantity) of recording etc that goes on both on site and back at the office and anywhere else - even though none of the ISOs have anything whatsoever to do with archaeology per se, the threat of in-depth auditing, eg the tracing of the document-trail of a randomly selected soil sample from in-the-ground through recovery, transport, initial processing (and disposal of waste), through the various stages of specialist analysis, reporting, publication and archive, which has happened on at least one audit I'm aware of, doesn't half sharpen up the thought processes of the POs, and hopefully filters down to the workforce. It's a pain in the a*** doing all the beaurocracy but definitely sharpens up the whole process in all aspects of work (documenting all aspects of H&S, for instance, effectively ensures a safer working environment). Surely something equivalent could be devised with a focused archaeological slant? Would cost money though (the ISO certifications ain't cheap!) :face-thinks: