Municipality of Abu Dhabi City bags ISO (EMS) 14001, OHSAS 18001 Certificates

In a ceremony held yesterday (Tuesday), in the presence of the British Ambassador to the UAE, the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has been awarded the ISO 14001 Certificate for Environmental Management System Certificate, as well as the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS) 18001 Certificate. These certificates have been awarded in recognition of the Municipality’s global commitment to the implementation of the Quality Management Systems for maintaining a safe & healthy working environment in all offices & facilities of the Municipality as well as its processes, activities and projects.

H.E. Khalifa Al Mazroui, General Manager of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, said in a speech delivered on his behalf by engineer Abdullah Al Shamsi, Acting General Manager of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, and Acting Executive Director of Infrastructure & Municipal Assets Sector: “Obtaining the ISO 14001 certification in the Environment Management System (EMS), and the OHSAS 18001 certification in the Occupational Health and Safety Management System brings about a fresh addition to the impressive record of mega achievements made by the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City; which always seeks to achieve excellence in processes, activities and projects. It also testifies the support and contribution made by the Municipality towards realizing the vision of Abu Dhabi Government 2030, and implementing the Municipality’s policy built on excellence & quality; which epitomizes its global commitment to implementing Quality Management Systems to maintain a safe, healthy and sustainable working environment in all offices & facilities in support of the sustainable development drive of Abu Dhabi Emirate.

“This achievement is a culmination of the concerted & expeditious efforts of all sectors, divisions and work team of the Health, Safety & Environment Division which spared no efforts in achieving excellence. The Municipality’s Health, Safety & Environment strategy aims to consolidate and foster a safe & healthy work environment in all offices, facilities, processes and activities while making every effort to keep the environment free from pollutants. It also reflects the Municipality’s attention to sustain the improvement made in the performance of the environment, health and safety at the local level with a view to protecting the health of all employees & visitors, and nurturing a work environment conducive to the enhancement of work deliverables, and minimizing all sorts of risks & injuries. This in turn will ensure the provision of a healthy climate that would assist the building of confidence and raising productivity; which will bring about multiple positives in terms of assisting the management of risks impacting the occupational & environmental health & safety, improving productivity, slashing the cost of accidents, and raising the morale of employees as well as their confidence in the corporate values.

In the same context, Salah Awad Al Sarraj, Acting Executive Director of Town Planning Sector at the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, said: “The Environment Management System (ISO 14001), and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS) 18001, which are integrated systems for managing occupational health, safety and environment at workplaces, have been designed to enable the entity control its risks related to occupational health & safety, and control the environmental implications and their impacts, besides improving the overall performance. Such a system is characterized by an integrated administrative mechanism that covers all aspects related to the health, safety and environment. Any entity attending to the implementation of this system can manage all aspects related to the health, safety & environment in a highly efficient manner that would minimize the negative impacts of activities on employees, community and the environment.
“The commitment on the part of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City to the requirements of these standards will keep to the minimum the health, safety and environment risks to which employees & customers may be liable, provide a safe working environment for them, and accordingly contribute to the improvement of the Municipality’s management & performance; which will have positive repercussions on the work deliverables. This methodology requires the integration of all issues related to the protection of the environment, maintaining the human health and the safety of the entire community, merging such issues with the business management as well as the operational & improvement practices in a consolidated system, and linking all elements to generate an effective and powerful system capable of functioning as a single unit.

To achieve the above, the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City will carry out periodic & systematic reviews of the development needs of its employees and ensure that they have access to the information, expertise and training through adopting suitable means capable of empowering them to discharge their individual roles & responsibilities. It will also review the work procedures to ensure the implementation of the health, safety and environment policy after carrying out due audits for checking their effectiveness in achieving high performance levels as regards the health, safety and environment.
Al Sarraj commended the entity which awarded this certification i.e. BSI Management Systems Ltd, Abu Dhabi (The British Standards Institution); which is one of longest-serving institutions in the field of standards & specifications supported by a work team comprising about 3000 employees in more than 100 countries for the support accorded to the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City culminated in obtaining these coveted international certificates. He renewed his thanks and appreciation to the work team of the Health, Safety & Environment Division and all committees and other work teams working in all sectors & departments for their efforts in making this achievement a reality. 
For his part, Abdul Aziz Zurub, Director of Health, Safety & Environment, said: “Realizing this achievement by a big government entity such as the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, is a key initiative, as well as an important and splendid achievement that reflects the attention of the Municipality to enhance service delivery in all sectors to employees, community members and customers.
“This achievement was a result of concerted efforts of all sectors, divisions and work teams of the Health, Safety & Environment Division which spared no effort in achieving excellence. He commended the ongoing support accorded by H.E. Khalifa Al Mazroo’ee, General Manager of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, to the work team tasked with the completion of this pioneering project. He also lauded the continuous follow-up and support accorded by H.E. Engineer Salah Al Sarraj, CEO of Town Planning Sector, and his directives as well as unlimited support to our Health, Safety and Environment for the success of this distinguished project. He also commended the work team for putting assiduous efforts towards obtaining these international certificates. He also paid tribute to the Executive Directors, Directors, Heads of all committees and other work teams in all sectors and divisions, for their fruitful contributions and making this excellent achievement; which was achieved in a spirit of a single work team; which succeeded in bringing success and excellence.