Doha, 22 October 2023- The Group Projects and General Services at QNB, a leading financial institution in the Middle East and Africa, has acquired ISO 45001:2018 provided by Bureau Veritas International Doha W.L.L. in Qatar.
This prestigious certification is a testament to the Group’s strong commitment to maintaining a safe and secure environment for its employees, vendors, clients and visitors in accordance with the requirements of the Occupational Health & Safety Management System standards.
It also reflects one of the Group’s strategic pillar aimed at supporting human development by providing sustainable and healthy environment for employees and customers.
Commenting on this recognition, Mr. Yousef Ali Al-Darwish, Senior Executive Vice President, QNB Group Projects & General Services Division stated: “ We are proud to receive such an international recognition, which comes to ensure that the security system we developed succeeded to meet the safety standards followed globally. Our priority will always be to accommodate the safety requirements of our employees and customers, applying the best practices and standards that a workplace needs to have”.
QNB harnesses all capabilities to provide a unique work environment for its employees that takes into account the highest international standards on occupational safety and health to ensure their well-being and sustainable performance, while promoting the effective management of safety and health aspects of its operations.
In order to achieve this certification, QNB Group Safety and Security has established well-documented Occupational Health, Safety Management systems by adopting a process and risk-based approach. The QNB Group Safety and Security has positively identified all OH&S processes and their sequence and interactions. The process methodology and criteria were define in relevant procedures and policy and the established documented procedures were identified and interlinked with the manuals that capture outsourced processes identified by the QNB and the established controls.
The QNB has established process to determine the risks and opportunities, assessment & prioritization for OH&S Management system clearly establishing the action plan to mitigate the risks and considered the identified opportunities and actions. Group Safety and Security has implemented robust processes, including policy updates, to effectively maintain, address and respond to emergencies or incidents. These processes have been regularly monitored, maintained and evaluated to ensure the compliance with applicable legal and other requirements.
The ISO 45001:2018 certification process involved comprehensive audits, development of existing documents, Occupational Health and Safety management system review, during which QNB provided documentary evidences of its existing and current Safety and Security processes conducted by Bureau Veritas. Bureau Veritas raised “no” non-conformity during the Audits therefore the Group Safety and Security recommended for ISO 45001:2018 certification.
A key aspect of QNB's commitment to safety and security is the prevention of non-conformities, by establishing systematic improvement of the processes to prevent any issues that may occur. In the event of incidents, an in-depth Root Cause analysis are conducted to correct and avoid such incidents to happen in the future
ISO 45001:2018 is the world’s international standard for occupational health and safety, issued to protect employees, vendors, clients and visitors from work related incident and ill health. ISO 45001:2018 was develop to mitigate any factors that can cause employees and businesses irreparable harm.
Furthermore, this commitment to ongoing improvement ensures that QNB remains at the forefront of safety and security practices.
Through its subsidiaries and associate companies, QNB Group is present in more than 28 countries across three continents, providing a comprehensive range of advanced products and services to its customers. The total number of employees is more than 29,000 operating through 900 locations, with an ATM network of more than 4,900 machines.