Celebrating First Balfour’s first year of being triple ISO-certified to the three standards in 2003; photo was taken at the headquarters of the company, then known as First Philippine Balfour Beatty, at Hatch Asia Building in Bonifacio Global CityFirst Balfour maintains its triple-ISO certification for the 20th year following the assessment of TÜV SÜD Philippines of its compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 quality management system (QMS), ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system (EMS) and ISO 45001:2018 occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS).

The four-day surveillance audit on Sept. 27-30, 2022 involved online and in-person interviews with various divisions and departments and a site audit in the East Bay Water Treatment Plant project.

TÜV SÜD lead auditor Michael Nelson Soriano said that the decision to maintain the certification was because “...it was evident in the audit that First Balfour guarantees continuous compliance with regulatory requirements, tracks performance indicators and ensures the effectiveness of its internal management systems audits and management reviews.”

For QMS, two positive items were noted, including the management’s commitment on QMS implementation and project planning. Specifically, TÜV SÜD was impressed by First Balfour’s improvement initiatives such as its business continuity management system and its people and culture programs like its ongoing “Embedding the Mission” campaign.

The provision of resources needed for QMS implementation was likewise lauded. This includes leveraging technology to increase productivity and efficiency, a leadership development program to ensure a sustainable leadership pipeline and beefing up the organization with key critical hires. For project planning, the auditors commended First Balfour’s project planning and monitoring website which was primarily established to ensure efficiency improvement.

Meanwhile, the EMS and OHSMS audit reports indicated zero nonconformities for the second straight year. Head of environment, safety and health Joselito Vicente attributed this to “all First Balfour workers who ensure that tasks are completed safely while keeping healthy in their respective work environments.”

Head of corporate quality Jose Lagdan Jr. said: “This is the third consecutive year that our QMS audit report indicated zero minor and major nonconformities. We must be doing something right and I would like to commend everyone’s contribution to this feat. Let us all take pride in being with a company that does not only comply with its existing standards but one which continuously aims to improve its management systems through a risk-based thinking.”

(Story/Photos by: By Dolly Pasia-Ramos)