Croatian Highways today received three certifications for management systems according to the ISO 9001:2000 standard for quality management, ISO 14001:2004 for environmental management, and OHSAS 18001:1999 for health and safety management.
This marks the completion of the integrated certification project initiated by HAC in 2005, making it the first company in Croatia to simultaneously implement and successfully certify all three systems at once, said Petar Cota, head of HAC’s management systems team, at the certificate awarding ceremony. The certification was conducted by Det Norske Veritas Adriatica, and the funds for the certification process and employee training were secured through a broader loan signed by the Republic of Croatia with the World Bank, Cota reported.
According to him, the introduction of the environmental standard ISO 14001:2004 was particularly demanding, among other reasons because HAC is subject to as many as 700 legal requirements in this area. HAC is a public company for the management, construction, and maintenance of highways. It was registered and began operations in 2001 as one of the legal successors of the Croatian Roads Administration. In the past six years, HAC has built and opened 450 kilometers of highways, and in November, according to announcements, a new 23 kilometers from Sredanci to Đakovo should be opened to traffic, while another 97 kilometers of highways are under construction. HAC currently manages 750 kilometers of highways, including interchanges, totaling 820 kilometers. (H)
