NOJA Power’s Environment Management System re-certified to international standard following major audit

Electrical switchgear engineers NOJA Power today announces that following a major audit by independent assessors Sci Qual International the company has been re-certified to the AS/NZS ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management System.

NOJA Power has designed and implemented a ZeroHarm policy and integrated Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS) using the AS/NZS ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management System and AS/NZS 4801:2001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System. These international standards focus on targeted, continuous improvement and bring increases in productivity.

NOJA Power first passed AS/NZS ISO 14001:2004 and AS/NZS 4801:2001 accreditation in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The initial accreditations covered a period of three years. Thereafter an external auditor must perform a major audit every three years for re-certification purposes. Upon expiry of the original AS/NZS ISO 14001:2004 certificate last month, NOJA Power was subject to this major audit by Sci Qual International and was re-certified. In addition, the external auditor performs a surveillance audit of HSEMS each year––as part of a continuous improvement process––to ensure that the system continues to comply with the standards and all legal requirements.

NOJA Power is committed to limiting its environmental impact and ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of its employees. That commitment is underscored by a number of key initiatives such as training 84 employees in health, safety and environment management during 2012.

A key environmental initiative is the use of solid dielectric insulation in every one of the company’s Automatic Circuit Reclosers (ACR) ever manufactured. Other load-break switches employ Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) as an insulator. The gas has a potent global warming potential of 23,900 times that of CO2[1] so by selecting NOJA Power’s SF6-free ACRs, customers reduce their own environmental footprint. A further environmental initiative is the implementation of twelve different recycling and re-use programs which generated 160 m3 of recycling items per month in the last financial year, a 7 percent increase compared to previous year. The company also implemented several programs in reduction in energy consumption.

An example of the commitment to health and wellbeing is a check for new employees conducted by a qualified exercise physiologist incorporating measurements of blood-pressure, -glucose and -cholesterol, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index. After the check the employee has an indication of areas for improvement and the motivation and confidence needed to make associated lifestyle changes. Employee care also extends to the adoption of a suitable workplace rehabilitation policy supporting an early safe return for any worker who has suffered an injury or illness.

“NOJA Power is unique among comparable companies in attaining AS/NZS ISO 14001 and AS/NZS 4801 accreditation,” says Dr Rabiul Alam, NOJA Power’s QHSE Manager and the person responsible for managing HSEMS. “Strong commitment and leadership from NOJA Power management played a crucial role in the development of HSEMS and in our original certification and re-certification. Careful environmental management enables us to manufacture leading electrical switchgear products with minimal waste and carbon emissions and the health and wellbeing initiative benefits the company because employees are healthier, happier and more productive.”

Reference:

1. "Direct Global Warming Potentials", Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007.

About ISO 14001:2004

The first Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, resulted in a global commitment to the environment and led to the concept of an environmental management system. In the same year, BSI Group published the world’s first environmental management systems standard that provided the template for the ISO14000 series, which includes ISO 14001, in 1996. ISO 14001 represents the core set of standards used by organizations for designing and implementing an effective environmental management system. By 2010, ISO 14001 was used by at 223,149 organizations in 159 countries. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series is to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organizations and to provide useful and usable tools - ones that are cost effective, system-based, flexible and reflect the best organizations and the best organizational practices available for gathering, interpreting and communicating environmentally relevant information. Accreditation audits for participating companies is performed by independent third-party organizations.

About NOJA Power’s HSEMS

NOJA Power’s Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS) represents a systematic approach to managing the health, safety and environmental risks and complies with ISO 14001:2004 and AS/NZS 4801:2001. HSEMS establishes the coordination and cooperation among management and employees to:

• Set health, safety and environment objectives and targets;
• Risk based systematic management approach used for doing work;
• Identify hazard, health, safety and environmental risk in operation;
• Assess risk and implement corrective and preventive actions required;
• Achieve and maintain compliance with legal and other requirements;
• Plan, document, measure and evaluate health, safety and environment performances.

The Company encourages employee participation and consultation in matters affecting the health and safety of employees and seeks suggestions from them to improve the health and safety standard. A health safety and environment (HSE) committee meeting, intranet, notice boards, newsletters and email are used as the communication medium related HSE to among staff and communications with external interested parties are carried out by the newsletter and company website.