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Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent

THE Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) has published over 2 600 International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification standards in all sectors across the country.

ISO certification certifies that a management system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation procedure has all the requirements for standardisation and quality assurance.

Addressing journalists in Harare SAZ acting director-general Mr Cosmus Mukoyi said ISO certification exists in many areas of industry, from energy management and social responsibility to medical devices and energy management “SAZ has published over 2 600 standards and as a full member of ISO has access to more than 24 000 standards and various standards for all sectors. Once you have been certified to one management system standard, it is fairly easy to increase the scope of your certification to cover other standards.

I urge companies to seriously consider certification to one or more of additional standards as immense benefits will accrue to you,” he said.

SAZ actively participates in the standardisation work at regional, continental and global levels as a full member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Mr Mukoyi said there were many ISO certifications, including ISO 45001-2018 Occupational Health and Safety, which help reduce workplace accidents.

“This standard specifies requirements for an organisation’s health and safety management system and enables an organisation to develop and implement policy and objectives that consider legal requirements and information about occupational health and safety risks. Implementing this standard demonstrates a high level of commitment to safety.

“There is also ISO 14001-2015 Environmental Management systems which helps an organisation to reduce environmental impacts, reduce waste and be more sustainable. Implementing this standard demonstrate a high level of commitment to the protection of the environment.”

He said ISO 9001-2015 Quality Management Systems helps an organisation to work more efficiently and reduce product or process failures.

“It is the most readily recognised management standard in the world. This means that certification to the SAZ Quality Management Systems independently, assure conformity to the globally accepted best practice in quality management systems,” Mr Mukoyi said.