Jan 19 2011
After a year of sustained effort, the structural steel manufacturer Supermétal is proud to announce today its attainment of two new major international certifications, ISO 14001 for environmental management and OHSAS 18001 for health and safety.
Having already acquired ISO 9001 certification for quality control in 1997, Supermétal is now further distinguished by becoming the first Canadian company in its domain to achieve the three most significant, credible and sought-after certifications in the sector of construction.
'Reaching the summit in quality control and health and safety standards is very important, but we should not overlook the environmental part. In attesting to the quality of our processes in all three sectors, these certifications are strengthening Supermétal's leadership, setting the company apart from its competitors and making our bids for service even more attractive,' Supermétal's President and General Manager Jean-François Blouin observed.
The ISO 14001 (International Standard Organisation) is the standard most used in the ISO 14000 series covering the environment. It allows for greater command of environmental issues and provides a tool for integrating these issues in the overall management of the company, just like quality control and health and safety. It also requires that operations be structured with regard to regulations, while affording better financial control of this problem. As for the British standard OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series), it encompasses the prevention of occupational hazards by providing companies with the assessment and certification of their workplace health and safety management system in compliance with the most recognized international standards.
'Obtaining these highly recognized international standards involves an enormous amount of work, and, once again, it's the team spirit at Supermétal that made the difference and allowed us to go after two certifications of such stature at the same time,' M. Blouin added.