The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has awarded the City of Cape Town’s Electricity Generation and Distribution department an Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 certificate.

The department is part of the City of Cape Town’s energy and climate change division. The certificate covers 27 sites of the division. The award ceremony took place on July 22 at its head office in Bellville, Cape Town.

The OHSAS certification has been awarded to the City of Cape Town’s division after it was audited by SABS and the results confirm that the City’s processes and operations comply with the requirements of OHSAS 18001: Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

“The process of being awarded the certification is rigorous and we commend the City as it now has a documented system in place for health and safety.

“Municipalities across the country are not often aware that South African National Standards (SANS) and conformity assessment services can and should play a role to enable municipalities to function efficiently and ultimately to improve delivery of services to communities.

The range of SANS available provide specifications on a range of products, management and operating systems. SABS provides indispensable support to municipalities and helps them deliver cost-effective and professional services,” says SABS acting CEO Garth Strachan.

He adds that the City of Cape Town is one of the first municipalities to achieve SANS/ISO 18001: Occupational Health and Safety Management System certification for its Electricity Generation and Distribution department.

It also boasts SABS certification for SANS/ISO 9001: Quality Management System for the Water and Sanitation department.

The SABS, which is an agency of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition provides a vital service to municipalities, especially those that are experiencing difficulties in delivering their mandate.

Some of the services include the development of SANS, product and system certification, conformity assessment, training, local content verification and consignment inspection.

SABS has also been able to assist in developing tender specifications that have greatly reduced fruitless and wasteful expenditure, by ensuring that quality specifications and independent verification of the quality of products procured are included.

“Partnerships and collaboration among municipalities and State agencies are crucial in the delivery of quality services and products to citizens.