Halal Certification

Halal simply means permitted or lawful. So when we are talking about halal foods it means any foods that are allowed to be eaten according to Islamic Sharia law.

This means that for any food to be considered halal it must comply with the religious ritual and observance of Sharia law.
Halal certified means that food has been subjected to approved certification systems which guarantee to consumers that nothing in the food has any forbidden components. Halal certificates are issued, for a fee, by a certifying body.
We help you with the certification process and ensure that it is hassle free. We assure you that the certificate provided, will be from a recognized halal certification body which is valid all over UAE and also internationally.

ISO 1002 - Complaint Management System

ISO 1002 Complaints Management System provides guidance on the process of complaints handling related to products within an organization including planning, design, operation, maintenance and improvement.

A happy customer makes for a happy company. When applying the customer satisfaction management standards from the ISO 10000 family, you manage and enhance customer satisfaction in a structured way. A scored assessment provides measures on effectiveness, risks and opportunities for improvement.
The standards are applicable to any company regardless of size and product or service provided. You can choose to apply the entire set of standards or individual documents. The four standards address customer satisfaction monitoring and measuring, code of conduct, complaints handling and external dispute resolution. While non-certifiable, the standards provide organizations with sound guidance on the critical aspect of customer satisfaction management, a topic briefly covered in the Quality Management System standard ISO 9001. A scored assessment by DNV Business Assurance will ensure that you are on the right track towards happy and loyal customers.

What are the main benefits?
Applying one or more standards will help you mitigate customer dissatisfaction, enhance customer loyalty and improve your company’s external reputation. With a systematic approach to customer satisfaction management coupled with a scored assessment from DNV Business Assurance, you will get full visibility of the effectiveness, strengths, weaknesses, risks and opportunities for improvement. When paired with ISO 9001 certification, you get a deep dive assessment into the compliance and effectiveness of your customer satisfaction management processes. The assessment report can be used as an internal benchmark, support your self-assessment efforts, encourage transparency regarding your customers’ satisfaction management, and demonstrate progress, compliance and performance toward suppliers and customers.

ISO 27001 - Information Security Management System

Information is key to the growth and success of an organization. ISO 27001 is an information security management system (ISMS) standard published in October 2005 by the International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission.

The ISO 27001 standard was published in 2005, and revised in September 2013, essentially replacing the old BS7799-2 standard. The Revised ISO 27001-2013 is putting more emphasis on measuring and evaluating ISMS performance as well as more controls for new section on outsourcing considering the nature of IT business. BS7799 itself was a long standing standard, first published in the nineties as a code of practice. As this matured, a second part emerged to cover management systems. It is this against which certification is granted. Today in excess of a thousand certificates are in place, across the world.

ISO 27001:2013 enhanced the content of BS7799-2 and harmonized it with other standards. A scheme has been introduced by various certification bodies for conversion from BS7799 system to ISO 27001 system.

By implementing information security management system as per ISO 27001:2013 standard, organization can achieve following benefits from the iso 27001 systems with continuous improvements.

 The following is a list of potential benefits of ISO 27001 System

• Interoperability: This is a general benefit of standardization. The idea is that systems from diverse parties are more likely to fit together if they follow a common guideline.
• Assurance: Management can be assured of the quality of a system, business unit, or other entity, if a recognized framework or approach is followed.
• Due Diligence: Compliance with, or certification against, and international standard is often used by management to demonstrate due diligence.
• Bench Marking: Organizations often use a standard as a measure of their status within their peer community. It can be used as a bench mark for current position and progress.
• Awareness: Implementation of a standard such as ISO 27001 can often result in greater security awareness within an organization.
• Alignment: Because implementation of ISO 27001 (and the other ISO 27000 standards) tends to involve both business management and technical staff, greater IT and Business alignment often results.
• Management can be assured of the quality of a system, security of data, business unit, or other entity, if a recognized framework or approach is followed
• Organisational Credibility & Reputation
• Can help identify process improvements & reduced customer complaints
• Provides evidence of due diligence & reduces the likelihood of product recall & adverse publicity
• Improves your organizations image

HACCP - Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. It is a process control system designed to identify and prevent microbial and other hazards in food production.

HACCP it is designed to minimize the risk of potential hazards. Implementation of HACCP In an organization is to ensure that adequate safety procedures are identified, documented, maintained and reviewed on the basis of the principles used to develop the system of HACCP (“Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point”).

HACCP provides a systematic assessment through all food manufacture stages (from handling of raw materials to food production and distribution to customers), by identifying critical points in the food production cycle. HACCP moves away from reliance on final product testing to a more proactive, preventative approach of controlling potential hazards and it delivers a method of controlling food safety through all the production and distribution processes.

The Benefits of Compliance of HACCP System are:

• A protective approach to food safety and effective tool to reduce risks associated with food production
• Reduces the need for, and the cost of end product testing
• Reduced operational costs in food production because technical resources are concentrated at the critical points.
• Reduces the likelihood of product recall & adverse advertising
• Enhances customer satisfaction / reduces dissatisfaction

ISO 22000 - Food Safety Management System

ISO 22000 is an International which specifies requirements for a food safety management system.

ISO 22000 combines and increases the core fundamentals of ISO 9001 and HACCP to provide an effective framework for the development, implementation and continual improvement of a Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

ISO 22000 Requirements are intended to be applicable to all organizations in the food chain regardless of size and complexity. This includes organizations directly or indirectly involved in any aspect of food chain. Organizations that are directly involved contain, feed producers, farmers, manufacturers of ingredients, food manufacturers, traders, food services, catering services, organizations providing cleaning and sanitation services, storage and distribution services, transportation, services etc. Other organizations that are indirectly involved include, equipment suppliers, packaging material manufacturers etc.

Compliance to ISO 22000 will bring following benefits:

• Compliance with the Codex HACCP principles
• Access to new markets and acceptance by customers such as supermarerts
• Compliance with a legal , business or regulatory requirement
• Competitive advantage in the marketplace, Improving business reputation & corporate image
• Identifying problem areas and opportunities for improvement
• Greater staff responsiveness of, and increased visibility of company obligations

ISO 14001 - ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

ISO 14001 takes a pro-active approach and allows organization to consider environmental issues before they become a problem, rather than reacting to them afterwards.

ISO 14001 is an Environment Management System (EMS), which is a tool to demonstrate that Organization take a serious commitment to protecting the environment and is committed to control the aspects of business that effect the local and wider environment and community.
It  ensures that your organisation has effective measures to prevent pollution,  to ensure legislative and regulatory compliance , to reduce environmental impacts , for  Use of natural resources and Waste  handling, disposal and treatment.
ISO 14001:2004 Certification offers more than just a globally recognized Environment Management System It offers other tangible benefits like:

• Builds responsiveness of the environment among employees
• Improved corporate image as environment friendly company
• Reduce energy consumption, reduces utility bills and waste streams
• Ensures compliance with environmental legislation
• Better relationship with Regulators and Removes a hurdle to working with government bodies, local authorities and larger commercial businesses who often prefer their suppliers to be ISO 14001 registered.

ISO 18001 - Occupational Health & Safety Management System

The OHSAS 18001 is the international standard for health and safety management system. It shows to clients that Organization is committed to protect employees, visitors, contractors and the general public.

OHSAS 18001 is an approach that allows a business to steadily identify and control its Health and Safety risks, reduce the prospective for accidents and legal issues, and improve overall performance.
This standard is applicable to establishment of any size, but is especially relevant to establishments with a large work force, manual and heavy work tasks, and/or high risk work environments. Aiming the health and safety of employees proves that Organization is working to ensure that operations are safe both for employees and the surrounding environment.

  Why Do we Need ISO 18001?

• OHSAS 18001 demonstrates that your organization is legally compliant and is able to manage health and safety risks.
• Stakeholders have to prove their commitment to health and safety, resulting in a positive impact on your company’s health and safety culture.
• Certification can reduce downtime following an accident and insurance costs.
• Continual development enables your organization to innovate and demonstrate forward thinking approaches.
• It also pushes your organization to ensure that it has a competitive edge.
• Certification is often a requirement for organizations tendering for new work.
• Successful implementation will increase your access to new business.What are the key stages of an OHSAS 18001 audit process? 

 

What are the key stages of an OHSAS 18001 audit process?

The key stages of an OHSAS 18001 audit are summarised below.  The full process typically takes between 6 to 12 months depending on the size and complexity of the organisation.

1    Developing a health and safety management system
The OHSAS 18001 audit will assess the effectiveness of your organisations health and safety management system.  Your organization should have an effective management system in place before deciding if the certification route is the right for you.

2    Organizing the audit
Each organization must select an external certifying body who is accredited to carry out OHSAS 18001 audits.

3    Pre-assessment audit
This is an optional assessment which can be carried out by the external auditor to ensure that the organization is ready to proceed with the full certification audit.  This audit will check that the key requirements of the standard have been included in your health and safety management system.  If they haven’t, the external auditor will highlight areas that you need to work on and make recommendations.

4    Gap analysis
Prior to the Stage 1 audit a gap analysis should be carried out by the organisation to ensure that they:

•     have the commitment of top management
•     have defined their occupational health and safety policy
•     use a framework for identifying hazards, risk assessments and the implementation of necessary control measures.
•     have identified the legal obligations for the organization, set objectives and established a management program for achieving the objectives.

The gap analysis is not mandatory but is recommended as a way of identifying the strengths and weaknesses in your health and safety management system.  It can also be used as a way of identifying what actions need to be taken to achieve certification.

5    Action plan
On completion of the gap analysis the organisation should develop an action plan detailing how they will meet the requirements of the standard.  This will include compliance, improvement, timescales for implementation and ownership of actions.

6    Management review
Each organization must carry out a management review which includes senior management and considers:

•     health and safety objectives
•     actions from health and safety audits and programs 
•     outcomes of accident investigations
•     changes in organizational and legal circumstances.

The OHSAS 18001 standard has specific requirements for management reviews.  It is important that ‘top management’ are actively involved with health and safety and carry out reviews of the health and safety management system on a regular basis. During the external audit the assessor will ask to see evidence that these reviews take place.  They may also wish to speak to managers who have health and safety responsibilities within your organization.

7    Stage 1 Audit
The Stage 1 audit focuses on the arrangements put in place by the organization to meet the requirements of OHSAS 18001.  The external assessor will:

• confirm that the OH&S management system conforms to the standard
• confirm the scope of certification
• check legislative compliance
• produce a report that identifies any non-compliance or potential for non-compliance and agree on a corrective action plan if required.
• produce an assessment plan and confirm a date for the Stage 2 assessment visit.

8    OH&S Audit
Prior to Stage 2 an internal heath and safety audit should to be carried out to check that the requirements of the standard have been effectively implemented.  This audit will focus on the implementation of procedures, development of minutes for meetings, training records, health and safety inspections, completion of risk assessments, maintenance records and ensure that you have effectively implemented the arrangements detailed in the health and safety management system.  Actions identified during the audit should be completed before the external auditors visit.  If this is not possible there should be a concise plan detailing who is responsible for the action and when it will be carried out.

9    Stage 2 Audit
The Stage 2 audit focuses on the implementation of the arrangements put in place by the organization.  The external assessor will:

•     undertake sample audits of the processes and activities
•     document how the management system complies with the standard
•     report any non-compliance s or potential for non-compliance
•     produce a surveillance plan and confirm a date for the first surveillance visit.

10    Surveillance visits
Regular (6 monthly or annual) surveillance visits are carried out by the external assessor to ensure that the organization is still meeting the requirements of the standard.

11    Continual improvement
The organization must demonstrate that they are continually monitoring and reviewing their health and safety performance whilst striving to improve.

How can we help?

Al Batra Consultants can help you to ensure that your health and safety management system is implemented effectively and is suited to your organization.   We can work with you to develop systems and work with you through the certification process.  This might include project scopes; arrange, facilitate or manage the third party audits; support you through the audit process by carrying out gap analysis of your systems; attend and carry out audits.

For more information about how we can work together and provide you with competent, practical and tailor-made health and safety advice please contact us.