GSCWD Maintains ISO 9001:2015 Certification After 2nd Surveillance Audit

04 May GSCWD Maintains ISO 9001:2015 Certification After 2nd Surveillance Audit

General Santos City Water District maintained its ISO 9001:2015 certificate after it successfully passed the 2^nd Surveillance Audit conducted last January 29-30, 2020 by SOCOTEC Certification International, formerly known as AJA Registrars, Inc.

Neither major nor minor nonconformities were found in the established Quality Management System of GSCWD against the ISO 9001:2015 standard; thereby getting a recommendation for its continued certification by SOCOTEC which is an accredited certifying body.

During the audit, SOCOTEC commended the increase in service connections and revenue of the office by 5.5% and 11% respectively for the year 2019. This could be attributed to the other positive findings observed by the certifying body such as that the “top management leadership is based on transparency and honesty” and that the “process owners are open to learning”. Further, SOCOTEC noted, as one of its positive findings, the regular conduct of Corporate Social Responsibilities activities as evidenced by the numerous community engagement programs it has implemented for the year.

Nevertheless, the certifying body observed a few areas for improvement such as the reduction of papers used, strengthening of completion of forms, legibility of the details in the document and revisiting its quality objective for the target setting. It further gave emphasis on the need of the organization to check the gap time of actual accomplishments versus what is indicated in the Certificate of Accomplishment for pipeline rehabilitations.

It can be remembered that GSCWD obtained its ISO 9001:2015 QMS compliance certification last March 7, 2018 and had its first Surveillance Audit on February 26, 2019. On both audits, GSCWD received a minor nonconformity which was immediately addressed and corrected by the office.

“The zero non-conformity observed by the certifying body is a manifestation of our commitment to provide a quality public service. We assure our customers that we will continuously strive to improve our services”, said Engr. Arn Gellangarin, General Manager.

By Vanne The G. Balboa