Beijing, China, May 12, 2003 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today that ABB Xi’an Power Capacitor Co. Ltd. was accredited the ISO 14001:1996 environmental management system and OHSAS 18001:1999 occupational health and safety management system certificates by Det Norske Veritas, becoming the 19th site of ABB in China to achieve ISO 14001 accreditation, and the 6th for OHSAS 18001 certificate.
Both certifications of ABB Xi’an Power Capacitor Co. Ltd. cover the design and manufacture of high voltage power capacitor unit and bank, with unit voltage range up to 35kV and capacitance up to 1,000 kVAr. Established in 2000, the operation specializes in the manufacturing of internal-fuse power capacitor units as well as applications such as filter banks, shunt capacitor banks and series capacitor banks to improve electric power quality.
"Committing to sustainability and occupational health and safety reflects ABB’s core value to guide and promote all our business and activities at all levels," said Peter Leupp, Chairman and President of ABB (China) Ltd. "Environmental management systems will be set up to cover all ABB manufacturing sites and non-manufactures activities in conformance with the ISO 14001 standard, and positive approach in assuring a safe and healthy working environment is already underway to conform with OHSAS 18001 standard."
ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 and specifies the actual requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects over which the organization has control and which it can be expected to influence. The standard follows the concept of continuous improvement whereby accredited organizations, like ABB, are required to set goals and programs to continuously improve their environmental performance. Renewal of accreditation is dependent on evidence of performance improvements.
OHSAS18001 stipulates criteria for management system to enhance occupational health and safety. This non-compulsory accreditation has become a benchmark standard for companies who are committed to enhancing the social dimension of sustainable development.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 135,000 people worldwide. ABB in China employs more than 6,000 people in 27 companies and sales office in 23 major cities.