Safety and environmental management are top priorities for Komatsu Australia, and that is reflected in the business’s recent achievement of ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 certification, the internationally recognised Standards for occupational health and safety management and environmental management respectively.
Executive General Manager – Safety & Sustainability Henrietta Jukes says the exceptionally rigorous Standards are designed to improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks, and create better environmental outcomes.
“Komatsu Australia’s certification underscores its dedication to integrating best-practice management across its operations,” she says. “This certification says to our staff and our communities that we are looking after your safety and the environment and to our customers it says here is a business that is absolutely committed to best practice in every part of our operations.”
The certification process included extensive audits across multiple Komatsu Oceania sites, assessing the effectiveness of its safety and environmental management systems, policies and procedures. A total of 22 sites were audited over a rigorous six-week period, during which independent assessors evaluated the company’s commitment to identifying hazards, mitigating risks and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The audit process also confirmed that Komatsu was already well aligned with the requirements of ISO 45001 prior to certification, highlighting the robustness of its existing safety management framework.
“At Komatsu, safety is at the heart of everything we do. Achieving both these accreditations is a testament to our team’s unwavering commitment to continuous improvement in workplace health and safety and environmental management. This milestone reflects our proactive approach to identifying and mitigating risks while fostering a culture of safety and sound environmental practices across all levels of our organisation,” Henrietta says.
“The management system we had in place at Komatsu did already adhere to the principles of the Standards, because we genuinely do have a big focus on safety and environmental protection, but to actually achieve the certification is a big task. We appointed a National HSSE Assurance and Systems Manager to oversee the process; the organisation made a real commitment to doing this. We did a gap analysis first then we reviewed all our policies, our procedures and went through a process of updating 180 or so procedures to align them to legislation, align them to state requirements, and then also align them to best practice, most importantly.”
The environmental audit was conducted by different auditors, in parallel with the safety audits.
“We have very few environmental incidents but there’s a lot of new initiatives that we’re starting from a sustainability perspective, especially around waste, because of this very rigorous management system,” Henrietta says.
Helen Goudy is the manager who drove the process, and she says the achievement of certification is the result of dedicated collaboration across the business.
“The audit process was incredibly thorough, with assessors closely examining our procedures, risk assessments and employee engagement in initiatives. We had the option just to go for head office certification, but we didn’t do that. We wanted certification for all of our branches. The feedback from the audit confirmed that our systems not only meet but exceed the standard requirements. We are very proud of this milestone, which reinforces our responsibility to provide a safe and supportive workplace for all, with a firm focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility,” she says.
