For DCD Marine Cape Town, a provider of turnkey ship repair solutions to the maritime and oil and gas sectors and part of the DCD Group, benchmarking its systems against the best in the world has been pivotal to success in the market. International accreditation has cemented the company’s reputation for sound safety and quality compliance, as well as industry-specific skills sets.
The company has worked tirelessly to ensure compliance with the highest industry standards. DCD Marine Cape Town is ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14 001:2005 and ISO 18 001:2007 certified for its quality management and environmental systems, and has recently received the ISO 3834-2:2005 certification for welding. Certification was performed by Lloyd’s Register LRQA.
“ISO 3834 is a supplementary certification to ISO 9001,” explains Abdullah Elmie, Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) manager at DCD Marine Cape Town. “We were audited by an independent international welding engineer who scrutinised our welding processes, including our welding management and control systems.”
He continues, “Welding is probably the most mission-critical activity when it comes to ship repair in the oil and gas sector. The different processes involved make it a complex skill, demanding high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.”
DCD Marine Cape Town has a strong focus on training, specifically in specialist welding techniques, and has its own MERSETA-accredited in-house welding assessment centre.
“While training and up-skilling are an important part of our strategy, it is equally important for us to be able to benchmark our standards against local and international accreditation bodies that have wide experience in our industry,” says Elmie.
“Now, through the ISO 3834 certification, we are able to clearly demonstrate to our local and global shipping clients that our welding processes are fully compliant with an internationally-recognised certification system.”
Safety and quality practices, supported by strong leadership and established systems, are embedded in all processes at DCD Marine Cape Town, according to Elmie. He explains how the company maintains levels of safety and quality.
“We conduct regular reviews of all our processes to ensure that we continually improve the way we operate and provide value to our clients. We continuously measure our own performance to prevent any negative trends from developing. Regular internal and third party audits are also done that ensure we are compliant with the best practices which have been implemented during development stages.”
Given the pivotal importance of welding in ship repair operations, the company ensures that it sets specific standards, which are measurable.
“Each welder is coded for a specific welding procedure, and these codes are assessed by a third party to ensure independence. The same methodology is applied across the board: each and every welder must have a valid code for the particular process that he or she is practicing on site,” Elmie says.
“In the highly competitive shipping industry, DCD Marine Cape Town strives for continual improvement in every aspect of the project work we do.
By adhering to the strictest international standards, and maintaining a pool of high-level technical skills, we can assure our clients of a world-class service. Our latest ISO accreditation from Lloyd’s Register LRQA for welding excellence is one way in which we can achieve that,” he concludes.
Read more in the July edition of Cape Business News
