The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded BAE Systems with the prestigious ISO 14001:2004 certification for its environmental management program at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, an old military installation built during World War II.
The ISO 14001:2004 certification is awarded to companies that have implemented environmental–management plans following an internationally recognized set of standards, including identifying and controlling the environmental impact of a company’s activities, services or products, continually improving environmental performance and implementing a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and demonstrating such goals have been met.
“This is a significant achievement for our team, and I’m extremely proud of reaching this challenging goal,” said Mark Keeler, Ordnance System Inc.’s Vice President and General Manager.
“We spend each day making products to protect the warfighter, and we do it in a way that protects our environment and our communities. This certification validates our commitment to this important mission.”
According to the news release by BAE Systems, acquiring ISO 14001:2004 certification is a requirement of the US Army’s contract at government-owned, contractor operated (GOCO) facilities, such as Radford. To ensure that contractors continue to meet the organization’s strict criteria, NSF audits these facilities every six months.
What gives additional weight to BAE’s achievement is that much of Radford’s infrastructure, such as the coal-fired power plant, is part of the original infrastructure, which makes the process of managing and modernizing the production process — while working to safeguard the environment — a difficult process that requires total commitment of each employee in the plant.
The company’s gain from acquiring the ISO 14001:2004 certification is twofold. BAE Systems also operates the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, which earned its first ISO 14001:2004 in 2006 and was the first GOCO to obtain this certification. Obtaining the certification for Radford made BAE Systems fully environmentally certified across both its ammunition plants.
