Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association (TRMCA) Quality Assurance System Financial Enterprise began to grant Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety certificates peculiar to the ready-mixed concrete sector.
TRMCA Quality Assurance System Financial Enterprise (KGS), one of the first examples of the sectoral self-audit in Turkey, reinforced its position of being a reliable organization well-known by the construction sector thanks to the works it has pioneered with the new certification fields. Founded by the TRMCA in 1995 to produce concrete of good quality in Turkey, KGS not only audits the concrete manufacturing plants on site but also performs product audits without notice through which it ensures constant production quality of the plants. Given this fact, the only effective and efficient audit regarding concrete production is performed by KGS in our country. Taking a big step in the issues of environmental and occupational safety which has a great importance for the ready-mixed concrete sector, KGS started to grant certifications with regard to environment and work he alth and safe ty.
Yavuz Işık, the president of the European Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (ERMCO) and the chairman of the Board of Directors of TRMCA, commented on the new certifications regarding the environmental and occupational safety and stated “We have been working as the Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association since 1988 for the production and use of quality concrete in our country. Apart from quality concrete production, we also carry on work concerning education, sustainability, environment, occupational health and safety for the improvement of the ready-mixed concrete sector and always attach great importance to such issues. As an indicator of the importance we give to the environmental and occupational safety, we have been organizing the “Green Point Environment Competition” since 1998 and the “Blue Helmet Occupational Safety Competition” since 2010. Lastly, we initiated a work for the certification of environmental and occupational certification peculiar to the ready-mixed sector. Readymixed concrete companies that apply to KGS and pass the audits will receive “KGS Environment Certificate” and “KGS Occupational Health and Safety Certificate”. These two new certification types will make a great deal of contribution to the improvement of ready-mixed concrete plants in t erms of e nvironmental and occupat ional safety.
Giving information about the new certification regarding environmental and occupational safety, KGS Director Selçuk Uçar said “The ready-mixed concrete plants that apply for ‘KGS Environment Certification’ and ‘KGS Occupational Health and Safety Certification’ will undergo an independent and effective audit and have their excellence and quality concerning the environmental and occupational safety registered. Inspecting whether ready-mixed concrete plants are fully in accordance with the last version of the legislation with regard to environmental and occupational safety is a prerequisite in certification processes. In this way, the plants will be fully ready for the environmental audits carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and the inspections conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and will receive service to make up their deficiencies. The audits include the factors that will encourage good practices for the ready-mixed concrete sector in addition to the legislative harmonization. This will help the plants to gain knowledge about the issues that they can improve .”
