THE MARITIME Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) last week hosted an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) workshop at the Courtleigh Hotel, which saw four of its senior staff members, trained as lead auditors to ISO standards.
According to Claudia Grant, deputy director general of the MAJ, who was one of the trainees, "The training was essential to the authority for carrying out its quality policy effectively.
"In February 2004, the MAJ gained ISO 9001:2000 certification as part of its quality management system. We are in the business of surveying, certification and ship registration, and the major point of competition is quality.
"Our clients want to know that we are serious about offering them the best service at the highest quality, and gaining ISO certification, as well as having staff trained as auditors, can only enhance our ability to offer consistent quality service to all our clients, both local and international."
ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies that identifies what international standards are needed by businesses, governments and the society and develops these in partnership with the various sectors that will utilise the standards. Standardisation facilitates international business and trade and guarantees consistent minimum quality.
"The decision of the MAJ to become ISO certified was a strategic move to enhance our quality management system as we are now obligated to maintain these standards. Under ISO, we will be audited annually by the American Bureau of Shipping in order to maintain certification, thus, our clients are assured of the constant delivery of quality service," Grant explained.
The course was conducted by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), with head office in Oslo, Norway. DNV is one of the world's leading maritime classification societies and is accredited to carry out ISO training.
Other participants were from Cable and Wireless, National Health Fund and Grace Food Processors (Cannings).
