Allianz Worldwide Care was one of 38 private, public and SME sector organisations receiving awards from the Minister of State for Small Business, Mr John Perry T.D. The international health and medical insurer joined the likes of Iarnród Éireann, Glanbia Agri Business, G4S Secure Solutions, and Business in the Community in achieving world class standards under a range of headings including Medical Devices Quality Management, Environmental Management, Health and Safety Management and Excellence Through People – one of the most recent additions to NSAI’s impressive certification schemes.
The Minister joined Maurice Buckley, Chief Executive of NSAI to present the awards and to recognise the importance of standards in the current economy.
“In this tough economic climate standards are a vital element for every business,” said Minister Perry. “The 38 companies here today recognise the return on investment – implementing standards in business enables companies to improve their efficiency and competitiveness, minimise waste and reduce costs. The small business sector is central to economic recovery, job creation and the further development of the Irish economy. Certification to standards helps businesses to be innovative, allowing SMEs to compete with much larger companies, attract new customers, and access global markets.”
Other companies present at the event included Nelipak Holdings Ireland Ltd., who were certified to the Medical Devices Quality Management Systems based on the international quality management standard ISO 9001. This standard assists companies in the highly regulated medical devices sector to sell their products on the European market and demonstrates to customers, and to the regulators, a professional approach as well as quality and excellence.
Codex Ltd was the first company to be certified by NSAI with the PEFC Chain of Custody Systems. NSAI recognises the need for sustainable wood products, and provides PEFC to organisations that use environmentally friendly wood products from sustainable sources. PEFC stands for “Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification” and is a worldwide movement to ensure that users and purchasers of wood based products can be assured that they are buying from “non-controversial” sources.
Speaking at the presentations, Maurice Buckley, NSAI Chief Executive, highlighted the real business value of investing in standards: “SMEs are invaluable to the Irish economy whereby 200,000 SMEs employ 600,000 people. Up to now, understandably, many have been in survival mode. Now, companies are looking to re-build and expand and NSAI provides them with tools to help them stabilize and grow. The companies present today are leading companies from various industries and sectors, and they would not be spending time and resources on achieving these standards unless they knew they had real value in the market. We are seeing a growing trend of European and international customers who expect such certified standards as entry level for doing business with them.”
The standards awarded were:
- ISO 14001 – Environmental Management Systems;
- OHSAS 18001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems;
- ETP – Excellence Through People;
- I.S. 3218 – Fire Detection and Alarm Systems for buildings
- ISO 9001 – Quality Management Systems
- ISO 13485- Medical Devices – Quality Management Systems
- ISO 22000 – Food Safety Management Systems
In 2012, NSAI published more than 1,600 standards and sold over 12,000 publications across a broad range of sectors, bringing their library to in excess of 23,000. NSAI invites members of the business community and the general public to get involved in the development of standards by visiting Your Standards, Your Say
The full list of companies certified at the recent NSAI certification
1. Allianz Worldwide Care
2. Allied Environmental Detergents
3. Business in the Community
4. Carlow Design Engineering Ltd
5. CMS Chemstore Engineering Ltd
6. Codex Ltd
7. Cold Chon Ltd
8. CPL Healthcare Ltd
9. D&B Business Information Solutions
10. Ecocem Ireland Ltd
11. Elmore Group
12. Flood Flooring Ltd
13. G4S Secure Solutions (Ire) Ltd – Fire Division
14. G4S Secure Solutions (Ire) Ltd.,
15. Gannon Office Solutions
16. GE Power and Water
17. Glanbia Agri Business
18. H&MV Engineering Ltd
19. Highway Markings Ltd
20. Hugh Munro & Co. Ltd
21. Iarnród Éireann
22. Intrum Justitia
23. Kercon Construction
24. Martins Construction Ltd
25. Milestone Solutions
26. MMD Construction
27. Nelipak Holdings Ireland Ltd
28. Ocon Chemicals Ltd
29. Prenco Manufacturing Ltd
30. Public Appointments Service
31. Railway Procurement Agency
32. Robert Thompson Funeral Directors Limited
33. SolarPrint Ltd
34. TAL Construction
35. The Community Foundation Ireland
36. Vistamed
37. WiseTek Solutions Ltd
38. Woodfab Structures Ltd