Taiheiyo Cement EMS upgraded to ISO14001:2004

CEBU CITY (May 23) -- Taiheiyo Cement Philippines, Inc. (TCPI) has earned the distinction as the first cement plant in Cebu to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) that has been upgraded and certified as having met the standards set in the new 2004 version of ISO14001.

Certification International Philippines (CIP), a Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) accredited certification body and a subsidiary of British firm Certification International U.K. Ltd., issued TCPI the award recently, disclosed Engr. Nilo R. Yap, environment and safety manager of TCPI.

CIP had earlier issued TCPI a certification that the safety and health management system it has been using at its plant in San Fernando meets the standards set under Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:1999, he added.

CIP managing director Renato Navarette personally handed both the ISO14001:2004 and the OSHAS 18001 certificates to TCPI CEO and president Toshio Komatsu. Navarette's regional marketing officer Barbie Doctor assisted him in handing the award, as Yap stood by his boss.

While the ISO14001:1996 certification that TCPI earned in 2001 was proof of its commitment to comply with government regulations, the 2004 version tells that its manufacturing facility in San Fernando is not only compliant but exceeds the standards set by regulations, Yap explained.

"We had actually been compliant with government regulations even before ISO14001:2004 came into being and even years before we got the certification under the 1996 version," Yap declared in a statement.

However, he added, with the 2004 version being aligned with Quality Management System (QMS), the company's environmental protection efforts would now all the more translate into production efficiency as "every man in the organization is conscious with applying rules and procedures that meet the standard."

Also, the 2004 version now makes top management actively involved in making decisions on policies and procedures during the continuing development of TCPI's EMS. As auditors make their regular review of the company's EMS implementation, they check on tangible proof of management decisions.

The system now goes beyond adopting recommendations made by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) on actions to take in certain aspects of the manufacturing process that affect the environment. Top management will now have to acknowledge the aspect identified and approve the measures to undertake.

Integration

Meanwhile, TCPI continues to integrate the various management systems it has been using in its day-to-day operations at its cement manufacturing facility into a single management system this year.

This as TCPI had subjected its Quality Management System (QMS) to a surveillance audit by separate auditors from Certification International to check if this has been consistent on its fifth year of implementation with the standards set under ISO 9001:2000.

"The integration process that we are working on now is quite tough but, with the support top management is giving us, we are confident that we will achieve our target," declared Yap, as TCPI management representative of the company's ISO management systems.

TCPI produces the New Grand brand for both portland and pozzolan cement.

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ISO14001:2004 CERTIFIED. Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) CEO and President Toshio Komatsu (center) with Engr. Nilo R. Yap, TCPI management representative of the company's ISO management systems, receives the ISO 14001 certificate from Certification International Philippines (CIP) managing director Renato Navarette (left) in simple ceremonies at Grand Convention Center recently.