Certification of TRAVIPOS S.A. in accordance with EN ISO 14001

Effective as of 1 January 2006, Spain's Administrator of Railway Infrastructure (known by its Spanish acronym ADIF) will certify and approve delivery only from suppliers who can verify that they operate with an environmental management system. Our Spanish subsidiary, TRAVIPOS S.A., with headquarters in Constantí, was successfully certified on 15 December 2005 by TÜV CERT España of the TÜV Rheinland Group. Under the direction of Oleguer Mariné Grau, Manager of Maintenance Services, all the involved staff have successfully - and with enthusiastic commitment - implemented the measures and the modifications required for this certification. Introduction of the EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System represents a major success for TRAVIPOS, as well as an essential milestone in the systematic continuation of its quality management system.

The EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System

ISO 14001, published in 1996, defines in conjunction with EMAS (1993) for the first time the area of environmental management from the standpoints of concept and content. ISO 14001 is an environmental management system through which environmental protection is firmly anchored in corporate management. This enables a company to take account of environmental aspects in all its daily functions and in its decisions on corporate policy - and places management processes and organizational structures in the foreground. ISO 14001 enables a company to verify that it is acting in an environmentally responsible manner. It also supports businesses specifically and systematically in the development of their environmental management system, in accordance with internationally accepted standards. This provides companies with a powerful instrument: one with which they can systematically detect environmental burdens and continuously improve their environmental situation. Environmental risks are analyzed and emergency plans are prepared, which reduces the number and extent of hazardous incidents. Work in conjunction with ISO 14000 of course also requires conformity with all relevant environmental regulations. Periodic inspections by environmental auditors from independent certification offices ensures such conformity.

ISO 14000 is an environmental management system especially for companies that have already implemented a quality management system, and that intend not only to systematic record the environmentally relevant areas of their operations, but to continuously improve these records. In its implementation of an environmental management system, a company additionally commits itself (similarly to a quality management sysem) to ongoing improvements in its environmental record, and to reduction in its burden on the environment. At the same time, furthermore, these activities enable the discovery of savings potentials of significant economic importance. This benefit results from the fact that the ISO systems require exact budgeting of materials flow and, in turn, clearly disclose waste and unnecessary losses of raw materials and energy.

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