Aboitiz unit bags safety standards certification

MANILA, Philippines - TUV Rheinland Philippines Inc., a Germany-based independent certification body, has conferred safety stamdards tp a unit of the Aboitiz Group.

SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) executive vice president for Southeast Asia Eric Knive said SNAP-Magat’s occupational safety and health management system (OSHMS) received certification to the standard set in the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:20007.

Knive cited SNAP-Magat as the first among their international projects to receive such certification. 

“This is part of our license to operate, and by that I do not mean just getting the legal permits, but also taking care of our people, our operations, and our community,” Knive added.

SNAP-Magat chief executive officer Emmanuel Rubio also hailed the award as a step beyond compliance. He said “A culture of safety means we do it as a way of life. Occupational health and safety are fundamental values in living our life as a responsible corporate citizen,” he said.

OHSAS 18001:2007 is an internationally recognized assessment series for occupational health and safety management systems.

SNAP-Magat’s OHSMS addresses areas such as risk assessment and management, legal compliance, documentation, training, operation and maintenance, emergency preparedness, and safety management for travel and transportation. 

The 360-megawatt (MW) Magat hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) was the pilot site for this certification which will be pursued across SNAP’s business units.

SNAP-Magat site manager Melvin Eugenio said the certification heightened a sense of safety among employees, “as we take pride in this system and are motivated to work even harder towards less or zero property loss, injury, or casualty in our plant operations.”

In November, SNAP-Magat received the Safety Recognition Award from the Department of Labor and Employment for accumulating 635,794 hours from April 25, 2007 to May 31, 2009 without lost time due to accident.  

Citing the exemplary work of SNAP in health, safety and environment practices and performance, SN Power chose the Philippines to host its global workshop held last month.

SNAP is jointly owned by SN Power of Norway and the Aboitiz Group.  It also owns the Ambuklao-Binga HEPP in Benguet.