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.

CERTIFICATE UNI 11674:2017

Ernestomeda is the first Italian kitchen manufacturer to receive certification of the Italian origin of its furniture issued by CATAS and COSMOB, Italy's two top wood and furniture testing laboratories, independent certification bodies which support and assist Italian furniture producers in the control and verification of the products placed on the market.
The certification is based on the Italian UNI 11674 standard, introduced in 2017, which now sets the regulatory framework for the declaration of Italian origin of finished furniture.

The standard requires compliance with the following:
Process requirements: the significant phases (the manufacturing processes of the unfinished component materials and the finished product, final assembly and packaging) must take place in Italy.
Product requirements: finished products must comply with minimum safety, resistance and durability requirements in accordance with the relevant technical standards, to which UNI 11674 refers (the national UNI 11663 standard setting the resistance and durability requirements for domestic storage furniture and the European EN 14749 standard, which defines the safety requirements and testing methods for storage furniture and worktops for domestic use). www.qualityinitaly.it

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.

UNI ISO 45001 CERTIFICATION

It was as long ago as 2008 that Ernestomeda, which prioritises the health and safety of its workers, received the highly respected certification of its Occupational Health and Safety Management System under the OHSAS 18001 standard, later superseded by ISO 45001.

The UNI ISO 45001 standard, issued by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) in 2018, is implemented in Italy by the national standards authority, UNI. It is internationally recognised as the official benchmark with regard to health and safety at work. It defines the procedures for specifying the responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources, within the company's organisation, for implementation of its prevention policy, in accordance with current health and safety legislation, in order to increase its efficiency and its integration in the company’s operations overall.

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.