Kleven First to Comply With Environmental Standard
Kleven AS has become the first Norwegian shipyard to receive the coveted ISO 14001:2004 environmental standard, adding to its existing ISO 9001:2008 quality standard.
According to Trond Øvrelid from DNV, who has led the auditing process at the yard, it is the well-defined, practical working methods established at Kleven that fulfil the stringent criteria for both the ISO quality and environmental certifications.
“It is these good working practices, not simply the good will, that has led to the certification,” he explains.
“Our starting point was the fact that we wanted to systematize our routines,” comments Karen Lise Sundgot, Kleven’s QA Manager.
Sundgot has been at the head of efforts to document and lay out the yard’s working practices in a systematic fashion. The main objective of this, she says, was to help every department operate as smartly and efficiently as possible by constantly improving working routines. In addition, the procedures also contribute to ensuring that the workplace is safe, for both the individual and the environment, and that all relevant regulations are adhered to.
Ståle Rasmussen, CEO of Kleven, is proud of the achievement and the progress at the yard. He comments, “We are very busy and have doubled business revenues from 2012 to 2013. It has been challenging to achieve this while introducing these standards, but it is very positive for both our customers and for us that our work processes are systematized in this way.
“In the future, we believe that this kind of environmental and quality certification will be a customer demand. We are proud that Kleven is now the only yard that has satisfied the requirements for both environmental and quality certification. Our focus now will be on completing certification for the whole group and work on this will commence immediately at Myklebust Yard,” Rasmussen states.