The Himalaya Drug Company today announced that it had received the ISO-14001:2004 certification - the most recognized standard, globally, for environment management. The certification was granted by National Quality Assurance (NQA), the UK's largest and longest established certification bodies.

Various crucial parameters have to be kept in mind while granting this certification. To be ISO-14001:2004 certified a company needs to put in place critical systems and procedures for pollution control. These include operational control procedures for all polluting activities, meeting legal and legislative requirements laid down by the state environment regulatory authority and having a well-defined set of objectives for taking environment management systems forward . The organization must also have the infrastructure, systems and trained personnel to look after its surrounding environment, whether it is land, water, air and the communities residing around its facility .

Himalaya has taken active steps in order to ensure that it more than satisfies the guidelines of NQA. The most significant achievement has been the setting up a water treatment plant by creating additional infrastructure and sourcing water with low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) externally. This has reduced the company’s water consumption by as much as 40,000 liters a day! Along with conserving water, this new system has also brought down costs by a substantial margin.

The company has also made investments in air pollution counter measures which have resulted in reducing exposure of employees to dust particles. The company has set and achieved stiff targets for reducing consumption of non-renewable energies like fuel and power, which are rapidly depleting resources and major pollutants. With ozone depletion being a major concern today, Himalaya has installed a CFC free air conditioning at their R&D unit! It also takes credit for being one of the first companies in Karnataka to implement rain water harvesting on-site, substantially improving the water table in surrounding areas.

It is little wonder then that the NQA was well satisfied that adequate systems have been put in place to combat pollution and that employees have high awareness of the importance of sound environmental practices.

“Since our business is all about researching nature, this achievement is very special-primarily because the lives of future generations’ depend on how we interact with our environment today and every little step in this direction has lasting benefits; secondly, the world of nature is very integral to our business and protecting it through sustainable practices makes good business sense!”, says Ravi Prasad, CEO & President, The Himalaya Drug Company.

This however is not the culmination of the company’s efforts but rather an ongoing process. Several new initiatives are already underway to further improve the environment. The company has plans to put in place a comprehensive waste management system, install new pollution control equipment and create greater awareness both internally and within the community on environment protection.

Background to NQA

One of the UK's largest and longest established certification bodies, NQA provides certification and assessment services and related training to a wide range of manufacturing, commercial and service sectors.

NQA assessors have in-depth knowledge and experience of all the environments in which they work; NQA is heavily regulated to provide complete assurance in the quality of our service and expertise, and they currently hold accreditations by UKAS and RAB – the respective national accreditation bodies of the UK and the USA.

With clients ranging from small family-run businesses and the voluntary sector to government and multi-nationals, NQA now has around 18,000 certificates of registration in 52 countries.