Quality, Safety, and Environment: a heritage to share

Care concerning the quality and safety of the offered products and services with the goal of continuously increasing Customer satisfaction and constantly improving the efficiency and safety of internal activities has always represented the essential primary commitment of Gruppo SOL 's companies.

Gruppo SOL adopted ISO 9000 standards at the beginning of the 90's, followed by ISO 14000 and EN 46000, and then applied Community regulation EMAS 2, the latest program for voluntary acceptance of an environment management system. SOL acknowledges the principles supported by these directives and uses them as tools for achieving its objectives to improve Quality, develop Safety, and safeguard the Environment, considering them as a valid and up-to-date benchmark.

Gruppo SOL believes that the organisational and operational efficiency of a company committed to achieving Total Quality Management - i.e. the constant search for an increasingly integrated approach regarding the three Quality, Safety, and Environment management systems - must not only be a continuously pursued commitment but, more importantly, a Customer's right.

Within today's dynamic market in a society strongly oriented towards "global" service, the possibility of not being able to confidently distinguish between unclear offers is becoming a growing reality. The implementation of management systems together with the successful adoption of international standards supported by obtained certificates represent an undeniable guarantee for those who decide to trust the various products and services offered by the Group.

The integrated approach: quality, safety, environment

An integrated approach to the three Quality, Safety and Environment systems means less extravagant and unsystematic business management, minimising possible operational inconsistencies and the risk of overlapping the various functions required by the individual systems. Gruppo SOL implements the integrated management philosophy, maximising its overall performance level.

Quality

The Quality management system, certified by ISO 9000 standards, has been integrated within Gruppo SOL for years now. Implementation of a Quality System requires a complete and structured analysis of every business activity and leads to better planning and rationalisation of the various processes within the organisation.
As a result, the following may be achieved:

• higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness;
• control of internal management costs;
• constant focus on customer demands.
• SOL is therefore truly committed to the continuous improvement of its services and products in order to completely satisfy customer needs and expectations through its qualifications, reliability, and willingness to solve problems and supply specific solutions.

Safety

By now safety management systems are not simply a requirement foreseen by special norms such as the "Seveso 2" directive for systems running the risk of serious injury. Instead they represent a particular commitment, felt by the entire group, to ensure workplace safety and the health of workers and to guarantee improved performance.

Each year refresher seminars are held for Protection and Prevention Service employees, whose role is explicitly instituted by Legislative Decree 626/94.
The meetings discuss primary organisational and technical topics such as a general check of activities carried out the previous year with analysis of the most important initiatives concerning safety, and techniques for analysing risks and preventing accidents.
In addition to this, Gruppo SOL recently started a new safety campaign within its plants and branches using various direct communication tools: "safety posters" and publications specifically aimed at training and informing personnel.
The initiative testifies once again to the importance SOL places on the philosophy of Safety, which must represent everyone's daily commitment.

Environment

The 21st-century society sets out to be a "global village". The resulting process of market evolution requires influencing companies to adopt sustainable development criteria directed towards protecting the environment and observing increasingly-stringent safety standards.

SOL has voluntarily joined the Responsible Care scheme by Federchimica regarding Safety, Health, and the Environment since 1993.
Later added were ISO 14000 standards and the EMAS regulation (Eco Management and Audit Scheme), whose common objective is to lead companies to achieve continuously-improving environmental performance.
The fundamental requisite of international standard UNI EN ISO 14001, which requires companies to control significant environmental impact related with their various activities, is the observance of current environmental protection norms. However, it does not quantify the environmental performance levels which must be achieved so that they may be applied to various industrial situations. EEC regulation EMAS n.1836/93 of 29 June 93 (transposed in Italy two years later), is a special means for industries to carry out new control and clearer development of relations with public opinion which often fails or is unable to acquire complete and correct information regarding environmental protection. SOL , a group strongly motivated to demonstrate its sensitivity regarding environmental topics as a whole, has adhered to the EMAS regulation and makes its commitment and policies on the matter public.