ELANGENI COLLEGE MAKES HISTORY WITH DUAL SABS CERTIFICATION

History was made as Elangeni College for Further Education and Training became the first educational institution in the province as well as in the country to be certified with the world renowned International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9001: 2000 for Quality Management and Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:2007 for Occupational Healthy and Safety Management at the same time. The certification body is the South African Bureau of Standards [SABS] who have displayed impeccable service delivery and professionalism during the certification process. 

Dr Sadhvir Bissoon (SABS Marketing Manager) indicated at the official certification ceremony, held at Elangeni College central office on 8 December 2008, that this is the first dual certification of its nature.  The certification officially took place on 5 November 2008 and officials from the Department of Education, Support to Education and Skills Development (SESD), SABS and Elangeni College gathered on 8 December 2008 as SABS presented Elangeni College with the certification certificates.   

This ambitious strategy of the College started in August 2006.  The aim of the college was to provide quality education and training to its communities as well as to improve service delivery as per the mandate of Provincial and National Government.

In order to materialize this huge undertaking, a five point plan was developed:

• Establishing a unit to drive the process.
• Transforming mind sets of staff.
• Management’s intervention.
• Mapping of work processes.
• Monitoring and evaluating the system.

The Quality Unit of the college was staffed with qualified and experienced personnel to achieve an outcome in 2 years that would normally have taken about 3-4 years to achieve. Vula Environmental Services was tasked to develop the electronically based system and guide the college.  The commitment and dedication from Vula cannot go unmentioned. Buy-in from all college personnel had to be achieved first, as this was something new for the college.  There had to be a changing of mindsets and ideology.  Through the dedication and commitment of all staff, college procedures and processes were transformed to conform to the requirements of the ISO system.  We had to re-look at how we operated as an organization because this required systems transformation and development which included:

• Document generation
• Procedure development
• Policy generation
• Work system change

The above was done to focus on the primary client: the student.  Apart from this, the college is able to show that the service provided is credible.  OHSAS 18001 certification has ensured that our clients, staff and visitors, whilst on all college sites, are protected from health and safety risks.

In order to maintain its new certification status, the college has to continuously monitor and evaluate its systems and practices.  This would ensure continuous improvement.  Most importantly, it ensures that the best service is rendered to its client and partners.

The college is indebted to its staff for their willingness to want to make a difference and for their vision to take the college to new and more challenging heights.

Why is ISO certification so important?  It shows that the college has an international best practice management system; benchmarks through independent, impartial third party certification that has integrity; and demonstrates controlled service and commitment to supplying a quality service that is consistent at all times.  By receiving the ISO 9001: 2000 for Quality Management and OHSAS 18001:2007 for Occupational Healthy and Safety Management, Elangeni College has joined the more than 900 000 certificate holders worldwide.

For more information, please contact the AD: Quality, Mr Amil Nundkumar.