​The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ has been awarded the Certificate of Registration of the Quality Management System ISO 9001: 2015 at a ceremony held in its headquarters, as part of Ashghal Corporate Excellence Programme.

This international recognition was awarded to Eng. Jamal Sharida Al-Kaabi, Manager of Planning and Quality Department in Ashghal, after a comprehensive and extensive external audit of all Ashghal’s departments by Intertek Group in December 2019, resulting in zero non-conformance with the internationally recognised standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The scope of the certification covered all Ashghal functionalities comprising design, construction, and management of major projects including roads, drainage, buildings and public amenities such as public buildings, schools and hospitals, in addition to operation and maintenance of assets such as Roads, Drainage Networks and Sewage Treatment Plants.

In this context, Eng. Jamal Sharida Al-Kaabi, Manager of Planning and Quality Department in Ashghal said: “Achieving the Certificate of Registration, of the Quality Management System ISO 9001: 2015, is a key milestone and major accomplishment for Ashghal and a fundamental pillar for establishing a culture of quality in the implementation and management of infrastructure projects and service delivery. It helps in the continuous improvement and achievement of the strategic goals of the authority related to quality management and organisational excellence.”

H.E. added: “In line with Ashghal’s Corporate Quality Policy Statement, the Public Works Authority is committed to achieve and maintain Quality Management System in compliance with ISO9001:2015 requirements, and to comply with approved governmental legislations and policies and requirements as related to infrastructure building and construction management.  This is addition to Ashghal’s commitment to improve service levels, public safety, environment and customer satisfaction.”

During the past three years, Ashghal developed and improved over 300 operational processes and 22 corporate policies, in addition to elevating it’s measuring, monitoring and evaluation approaches, which helped in providing factual evidences for internal quality performance.

Ashghal places customer care and satisfaction amongst its top priorities, and its interaction and communication with customers is closely monitored through real-time dashboards and performance indicators. It also implements regular online surveys in order to continuously improve customer satisfaction.

Worth to be mentioned that the upcoming milestones for Ashghal’s Corporate Excellence Programme include achieving the ISO 14001:2015 - Environmental Management System and ISO 45001:2018 - Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certifications for the entire organisation by the third quarter of 2020.