Certification adds competitive advantage to the company

Certification: To add credibility to the power utility company, the Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) has met the international standards on design planning and operation and maintenance of hydropower projects.

Going by the ISO standard codes, DGPC has met three different standards of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the certificate of which was awarded yesterday.

With the certification, DGPC has achieved international standards on health and safety management systems, quality management system and environmental management.

The standards on health and safety enable an organization to have control over, and knowledge of, all relevant hazards resulting from normal operations and abnormal situations arising in the plants.

Achieving the international standards on quality means the company’s preparedness to acclimatize with change in order to align with modern management practices, which would drive a competitive advantage, technological and environmental changes.

The ISO standards on environment specify the requirements to identify, control and monitor the environmental aspects.

Globally, certification is a strategic vision to improve brand equity and image of any organisation in ensuring that the company is better equipped to win new opportunities in a competitive global marketplace.

However, ISO is not involved in certification but develop International Standards. It is the external certification bodies that perform assessment and certifications.

For DGPC, the Bureau Veritas, an international inspection and certification firm created in 1828 evaluated and certified the standards.

During the award of the certificate, DGPC’s head of corporate planning and strategy division, Passang Dorji said ISO certification would mean cost savings, customer satisfaction and access to new markets.

The certification will also prevent trade barriers and open up global markets, which again would provide competitive advantage.

The general manager of Bureau Veritas, Rupam Baruah said the firm also provides certification of equipment and products across all industries and sectors.

In compliance to a good corporate governance practice, the DGPC also opened a Visitor Centre at its office.

While transparency, access to information, dialogue and engagement with stakeholders is key to hydropower success in countries such as Norway, Austria and Tasmania, Passang Dorji said information and documentation were always in short supply in Bhutan’s hydropower sector.

To break this communication barrier, the Visitor Centre will serve as a meeting place for visitors to Druk Green and as an information outlet on hydropower including documents, photographs and audio-visual.

The Centre is also expected to provide platform for information dissemination on hydropower to business partners, suppliers, manufacturers, parliamentarians, general public and students.

Such centers will be gradually replicated to all the power plants.

Tshering Dorji