Global Health and Safety

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies will require all of its North American facilities to achieve ISO 45001 certification going forward, with an additional six facilities in the U.S. and Mexico scheduled to begin the certification process this year. The company’s facilities in Europe have already achieved ISO 45001 certification.

The current North American certifications are part of a company Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) alignment strategy that will insure all productions sites are ISO 45001-compliant within the next three years. Such a Matrix Model Certification Process allows the company to share best practices and synergies between sites that help streamline the certification process and lower overall training and implementation costs.

A Tough Audit Process

Achieving ISO 45001 certification is a major undertaking, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ HSE team points out. In the case of Troy and Milan, cross-functional employee teams shared programs and processes, performed internal audits at both locations and embarked on a strenuous process of risk assessment of virtually every operation taking place at the sites.

“The risk assessments were the biggest challenge,” said John Batchik, Vice President, Corporate Quality and HSE for Freudenberg Sealing Technologies in the Americas. “Troy and Milan associates identified every industrial operation performed at their locations, analyzed each step of those operations to assess what could go wrong and then developed mitigation plans. Participation from our shop floor associates was essential to this process.”

The ISO Advantage

Global ISO 45001 certification provides several important advantages to customers and employees. In addition to providing the company with a consistent set of safety and health protocols at every location, ISO 45001 establishes a management system that captures and codifies best practices and operational knowledge that will outlast individual employees and be available to orient new workers.