Together with general manager Åshild Østerbø, she has since 2017-18 led the work with environmental certification of the company, and in December last year came the confirmation.

HyCom now has both ISO 9001 quality certificate and ISO 14001 environmental certificate, and the company in Håkonshella in Bergen thus has the necessary certificates in place to be able to satisfy future government requirements, customer requirements and its own internal requirements.

- The work with ISO 14001 has not offered any major upheavals in the workshop, but it has made us more aware of the way of thinking about the environment. Among other things, we have removed some of the most harmful chemicals, and some have also been replaced with environmentally friendly products. We have changed some of our goods delivery and reception, says Åshild Østerbø.

- We do not buy packaging, we have basically never done that, only with a few exceptions. Instead, we reuse what comes in from packaging, whether it is packaging plastic, crepe cardboard, boxes or cartons, Birthe Østerbø adds.

- In addition to this, we have now set up a separate environmental station where all our waste is sorted and taken care of, and in general we have become much more careful both with the consumption and with the sorting in the workshop, both say in unison.

ISO 14001-World-renowned standard for environmental management. The environmental certificate is proof that HyCom is actively helping to reduce the environmental impact of the company, products and services.

Quality and environmental certified

HyCom was established in 2008, and the workforce currently has 27 employees.

- We deliver and repair most of the oil that flows through, and we are large enough to be able to guarantee robust and reliable deliveries at the same time as we are small and dynamic enough that we can pull ourselves around if something is urgent, says Quality Manager.

Most of HyCom’s customers are Norwegian, but deliveries are to all over the world - both onshore and offshore. All production takes place in Bergen, and HyCom both designs and produces itself. In addition, overhaul and certification of pressurized equipment is a significant part of the business.

Furthermore, the General Manager says that the certification work associated with ISO 14001 was time consuming, such as the work with ISO 9001 in its time.

- At the time it was about quality, this time about the environment, but both parts are basically about vigilance and good routines and systems, she adds.

An environmentally conscious company

- The customers make strict demands on us, and we must of course be able to meet them, Birthe Østerbø adds.

In connection with the ISO 14001 certification, HyCom has also tightened the requirements for its own suppliers.

- We have reduced the number of suppliers, and choose as far as possible the companies that have quality and environmental focus. In our environmental policy, we have now stated that we must be an environmentally conscious company where the employees at all times take environmental responsibility, and that we must show consideration for society’s vulnerability through our choices and actions. We MUST live by this, Åshild Østerbø states.

One must always remember that the work around Quality and the Environment is a continuous process in everyday life.

Read more about HyCom’s environmental and quality policy here