BUSINESS STANDARDS
is the quarterly magazine of BSI Group, highlighting the vital role that standards play in today's business environment. Regular features include interviews with leading business figures, as well as news on the latest developments in management systems and standards.
Cast the certification date in concrete
02 Apr 2008
Topics: Quality management, ISO 9001, Environment, ISO 14001, Health & safety, OHSAS 18001, Integrated mgt, PAS 99, Qatar
In a first for any company in the Middle East, the world's largest operating gas-to-liquids (GTL) company - Oryx GTL, located in Ras Laffan, Qatar - has achieved simultaneous registration to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and PAS 99 with BSI Management Systems.
This considerable achievement was marked with a certificate presentation in February, attended by H.E Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Premier, Minister of Energy & Industry of Qatar and Mr Lean Strauss, Managing Director Sasol Synfuels International.
Named for Qatar's national animal, Oryx GTL is a joint venture company between Qatar Petroleum (QP), the national petroleum corporation of the State of Qatar, and Sasol Synfuels International (SSI), a wholly owned subsidiary company of Sasol Limited of the Republic of South Africa. The company was established in Doha, Qatar in January 2003 with a mandate to develop, construct and operate a world-class large-scale GTL plant in Qatar for converting natural gas into high quality, environmental friendly GTL products. Qatar is home to 9 per cent of the world's gas reserves.
Developed at a total cost of about US $1 billion, Oryx GTL now has a nominal plant capacity of 33,000 barrels per day. The GTL diesel and GTL naphtha produced by Oryx GTL is marketed internationally, with more than 300,000 metric tons of GTL products successfully shipped to satisfied end users.
Drivers for certification
The decision to achieve certification was driven by the desire of Oryx GTL's management to continually reduce the safety and health risks to employees, prevent pollution and improve stakeholder satisfaction. Under the health and safety heading, the plant has achieved 1 million hours without a single loss workday injury.
And while environmental concerns and global warming are becoming increasingly pressing issues around the world, Oryx GTL has taken the step to ensure its Environmental Management System conforms to the requirements of ISO 14001 certification and is both managing its environmental impacts and producing a fuel that fits the thinking of regulators around the world. Deputy General Manager, Abdul Rahman Al Suwaidi commented: "Achieving certification in all four management systems would be an achievement in any organization, but we have faced the challenges of pioneering groundbreaking technology, and meeting and overcoming associated hurdles with great perseverance and dedication from our staff."
The project plan for integrated certification was presented to management in January 2007. The general manager at the time, Chris Turner, made the goal clear, stating: "Cast the certification date in concrete." This set the pace for the project, which continued under the guidance of deputy general manager, Abdul Rahman al Suwaidi.
The challenge was not to distract from achieving production targets. According to Johan Knoetze, Oryx GTL's Integrated Quality Specialist that acted as the Certification Project Leader, the emphasis was not to duplicate effort and therefore the integrated approach was adopted. An online Oryx GTL Integrated Management System (IMS) was developed and the requirements of the management standards were integrated with the business processes.
The integrated approach also laid down the foundation to add registrations to other management systems in future without duplication of effort in the common elements.
Oryx GTL also plans to achieve laboratory accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 standard in 2008 to meet the requirements of the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Reserves in Qatar.
For more information on certification in the Middle East: http://www.bsi-emea.com/MiddleEast/index.xalter
Business Standards © 2008. Editorial produced by Caspian Publishing in association with the British Standards Institution. Editorial opinions expressed on are not necessarily those of BSI Group or Caspian Publishing. Neither Caspian Publishing nor BSI Group accept responsibility for advertising or editorial content, nor for that appearing on linked third-party websites. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without written permission from BSI Group or Caspian Publishing.
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