STEPS TOWARDS ISO CERTIFICATION

24/07/2012

The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment has taken the first steps in its aim to attain the ISO Certification.

The Ministry is organising a one week training course on ISO 9001: Quality Management System for the senior management and district officers of the Ministry beginning from yesterday 23rd till the 27th July.

The course is facilitated by the Asian Productivity Organisation experts Mr Giok Pien Chua and Mr Chua Geok Boon, both from Malaysia. 

Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Mr Jone Usamate said the ISO Certification is an important achievement for the Ministry and this training is a milestone achievement as the Ministry nears the completion of all labour reforms.

“The prime objective of this training is for the staff to acquire the necessary skills to develop quality management systems, follow audit and certification procedures on how to operate and maintain Quality Management System (QMS) in the Ministry, Mr Usamate said.” 

The workshop will be more practical than a theoretical one, so that all participants are able to obtain and apply the knowledge and materials from the lectures and exercises directly to the Ministry’s System and Processes Manuals, to improve the quality of these Manuals to the standard required for certification purposes under the ISO 9001:2008 quality standards. 

Mr Usamate said this will further lead to improvement in the Ministry’s products and service delivery, increase customer satisfaction and consequently increase productivity in all workplaces in a sustainable manner. 

“Our next step will be to develop value and competency-based training manuals and effectively implement these value-based Manuals, including the timelines for the follow-up workshop before the final certification process, said Mr Usamate.

After certification, the Ministry will continuously improve to develop and sustain a lively, healthy and progressive quality management culture within all core businesses of the Ministry under our integrative management system - ISO 9001:2008 QMS, Business Excellence and ISO 26000. 

The five days intensive training course will cover ISO 9000 family of standards, ISO 9001: 2008 requirements, development of a quality policy, objectives and manual, documentation and audit procedures, certification requirements and benefits of a QMS and its operations.  

Mr Usamate affirmed that this results in achieving government’s commitment in enhancing Public Sector Efficiency, Performance Effectiveness and Service Delivery under the Peoples Charter for Change, Peace and Progress.

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