29 January 2015, 15:25
With safety embedded within Vanderlande’s sales processes, and service and maintenance activities, the company has been successful in achieving two new industry standards in Australia. It has been awarded the OFSC (Office of the Federal Safety Commission) accreditation in November to add to the OHSAS (Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Services) 18001 certification from earlier in the year.
The driving force behind Vanderlande’s focus on these standards is to achieve world-class safety with best-practice systems in the workplace. In line with one of the company’s mottos, “if we can’t do it safely, we don’t do it”, health and safety is a top priority within its strategic approach.
In order to meet the high safety standards of the OFSC in Australia, Vanderlande has demonstrated through this stringent process that it not only has a safety management system of the highest standard, but also more importantly that it is using this in practice.
After successfully passing the final audit and receiving confirmation of the accreditation, Roald de Groot, Vanderlande Australia’s Area Manager said, “This is a particularly important award for Vanderlande to achieve in Australia, because it proves that we are able to install our customers’ equipment safely on site, and ensure that their operators have a safe and healthy working environment. I would like to pay tribute to the excellent teamwork of the Vanderlande personnel at our North Sydney office, as well as the various teams that are executing projects on site.”
The building and construction OHSAS accreditation scheme enables the Australian Government to use its influence as a customer and provider of capital to improve the industry’s WHS (work health and safety) performance. In doing so, it aims to promote the idea that work must be performed safely, as well as on budget and on time. Subject to certain financial thresholds, only builders who are accredited under this scheme can enter into contracts for work that is funded directly or indirectly by the Government.