Entegro's ISO Accreditation

As a company we have hit the ground running so far in 2021 and we wanted to share some more good news with you about our recent renewed accreditation of our ISO certification. We sat down with our Head of PMO, Teo Boanchis to discuss the entire process and what it means for Entegro.

We have been ISO certified for Quality, Health and Safety and Environmental compliance since 2011 and once an organization is awarded an ISO certification, it is valid for 3-years. We then have a yearly verification audit thereafter, to ensure we are maintaining same level of compliance across all our projects and processes.

What is ISO certification?
ISO stands for International Standards Organization, and it sets out the requirements to implement an effective management system, a set of rules, processes and procedures, that are practical and help minimise risks and maximise opportunity. ISO is internationally recognized and used by organisations in a multitude of industries and for companies of all sizes, from major multinational corporations to SMEs.

The standards are a first step for many organizations, that have decided to streamline or review their management procedures, strengthening their position on the market and in a bid process. The organisations can focus on implementing it in a particular department, but in entegro it’s implemented throughout the organization at every level, ensuring we’re seeing the same level of consistency in quality, health and safety and environmental compliance, across all our projects.

Why is it important?
This suite of standards purpose it to support organisations analysing and improving their processes and flow of operations, from the selection of suppliers through to design, build and delivery. Among the many benefits of ISO certification, the Standard helps organizations improve customer satisfaction levels, internal efficiency and employee involvement, reducing the risk of liability and loss of business, improves chances of success in various bids and it’s giving stakeholders at all levels the confirmation that entegro have a set of systems in place geared towards successful delivery and continuous improvement.

What are the benefits of having ISO certification?
ISO certification can be a prerequisite in many industries, and it’s required at pre-qual phase in a bid process, as such it has an impact on business development and entering new markets, ensuring development of global trade on a fair basis. entegro has seen the benefits of ISO certification as it allowed us to access new markets and tender for contracts that otherwise we would have been excluded at pre-qual stage.

Having a set of standards and processes in place has helped us; increase productivity, reduce errors, use the lessons learned and implement these in the next projects, continuously improving our delivery process. The standards also give re-assurance to our customers that our products and services confirm to the minimum standards set internationally and have gone through a process of certification and approval prior to delivery.

In essence ISO standards enable us to work more efficiently, improve our performance, reduce risks and help be more sustainable.

What does the process entail for Entegro in preparation of being audited for ISO?
Getting certified initially, entails an extensive planning phase, auditing the current business setup and completing a gap analysis, reviewing the requirements and changes to be implemented, to achieve compliance. It is a major change in the process and also culture in the business and requires full commitment from all levels of the business starting with Senior Management Team.

When we prepare for the yearly verification audit, we complete internal and external audits, reviewing performance of our own projects and management system, and also our suppliers performance. In entegro, we are in a position of advantage as we have full buy-in and support from all teams and HSEQ compliance is a natural process that happens without having to be constantly reinforced, hence we have never failed a re-certification or verification audit and we have not had any major non-conformances while undergoing the audit from NSAI or external audits from our Clients.  

HSEQ compliance is a continuous process and not an end state, we are constantly improving and changing processes to bring more compliance and efficiency in our delivery matrix and having the support across all our projects and levels in the business, has made it easier to maintain ISO Certification. As such we are now in the process to achieve ISO 27001 Information & Data Security and next step is ISO 21500 Project Management certification.

Teo Boanchis, Head of PMO at entegro