Quality, environmental systems and safety

We prioritise the ethical management of our company's production operations. We prioritise the environment and the protection of resources and people. This awareness relates to a way of doing business closely linked to the responsibility and sensitivity Ernestomeda has always shown in its social and human relationships, which drives us to achieve better and better ethical results. These are the main milestones achieved so far.

UNI EN ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION

Ernestomeda has had a QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 standard since 1999. The System has the aim of ensuring the best possible management of the main corporate processes, from design to coordination with raw material suppliers, from tests and inspections on incoming and outgoing materials to monitoring of production processes, from order management to attention to the consumer’s requirements, with the end purpose of guaranteeing the full satisfaction of the company’s customers at all times.

UNI EN ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION

Ernestomeda has always viewed a responsible, intelligent approach to the environment as extremely important. 2004 saw a major step forward in this direction, as we established our ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM under the UNI EN ISO 14001 standard. Through the Environmental Management System, particular attention is paid to energy consumption, noise pollution, atmospheric emissions and waste management. Our environmental awareness involves strict compliance with the legal requirements relevant to our corporate context, leading us to set ourselves continual improvement targets, in the aim of constantly reducing our impact on the environment.

OHSAS 18001:2007 CERTIFICATION

In December 2008 the company achieved prestige certification for its  Occupational Health and Safety Management System under BS OHSAS 18001:2007 (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series).

The OHSAS 18001 standard was published by the British Standards Institution on 1st July 2007. It is internationally recognised as the official benchmark with regard to health and safety at work and is important because it covers the procedures by which a company identifies and monitors risks and all hazards which may arise from its operations, to manage them effectively and optimise its performance.

SGS
All the Management Systems adopted by Ernestomeda just described have been certified by the independent international body SGS, world leader in services for the inspection, auditing and analysis of industrial goods, services and systems. SGS uses strict, meticulous tools to verify the compliance of the corporate processes with the relevant standards and their relative improvement.

Ernestomeda is LEED Compliant

The latest stage in implementation of our environmental commitment is “LEED Compliant” accreditation. What do we mean when we say that Ernestomeda kitchens are LEED Compliant? We mean that the materials used for their manufacture have low emissions of volatile compounds - first and foremost formaldehyde - and thus comply with the LEED prerequisite for indoor pollution (Commercial Interior - IEQ Credit 4.5“Low emission materials – Furniture and seating”). Their “Indoor Hi-Quality” classification confirms that ernestomeda kitchens comply with the indoor pollution standards required by the international LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system. Ernestomeda is one of the first companies in Italy to comply with this international standard, as certified by Cosmob, a specific accredited laboratory for the wood-furniture industry. Cosmob is one of the few organisations in Europe and the only one in Italy to perform accredited tests for the measurement of emission of the VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) used in furniture and fitted kitchen manufacturing processes.

QUALITY TESTS

Ernestomeda works constantly to deliver a product that not only offers outstanding design but is also tough, safe and of impeccable quality. To achieve this, we perform tests on materials both in our in-house laboratory and with the aid of the best laboratories in the industry, during both the design phase and subsequent quality control procedures. These tests are conducted taking the national and/or international standards as benchmarks or (especially where there are gaps in the standards) on the basis of in-house technical specifications.