Credit Where it’s Due for Hydratight

HYDRATIGHT has added its French site to a growing list of international centres to be certificated to international ISO standards.

Hydratight SAS at Bezons, a short distance from Paris, became the 10th site to reach the ISO management standard - ISO9001:2000 - at the end of 2008. The centre is the source of specialist products for subsea and power applications, particularly when rapid turnround is essential.

Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) conducted an intensive, three-day audit in Paris before recommending certification. The achievement was a matter for more company pride than usual: the assessment report showed complete conformity to ISO's quality management standard.

Bezons joins UK sites at Darlaston, Walsall, Morpeth and Aberdeen, American sites in Houston, Antigo and Red Wing, and facilities at Port Lisas in Trinidad and Alkmaar in the Netherlands, to have gained ISO certification in one or more of the ISO management, safety management or environmental standards.

In 2009 Hydratight hopes to extend ISO9001 certification to the company's Breda, Netherlands, centre, and to facilities in Brazil, Norway, Australia and Singapore.

"Clients can be sure anything we do for them will be done as carefully and safely as it can be," said global safety and environmental manager, Dave Stout.

"In a business in which errors can cost millions, proving we have the highest standards is important: lives may depend on our work. And the speed and safety of that work directly affects a client's bottom line. That's why we are gradually extending our ISO certification to cover all our sites round the world."

Hydratight is believed to be the only company of its size in this field to have achieved certification to all three international standards across all its UK plants.