Safety & Quality

Safety - It's Our Responsibility!

“Safety - it's OUR responsibility!” is a set of beliefs, principles and guidelines for Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) at Bureau Veritas. The concept of safety starting with each employee was developed from our own guiding principles as well the underlying philosophy of the occupational health and safety legislation, the Internal Responsibility System (IRS). The IRS principle is that everyone in the workplace – both employees and employers – is responsible for his or her own safety and for the safety of co-workers.

“Safety - it's OUR responsibility!” has become the overall guide for safety expectations and standards at Bureau Veritas and reinforces performance, acceptance, ethics and values. Corporately we are committed to actions that will continuously improve and promote employee health, safety and environmental protection. With all employees working together as a team and following the IRS we can accomplish the goal of all Bureau Veritas personnel going home safely every day.

The goal of the program is to:

• Comply with all applicable government regulations, guidelines, industry standards, company and client policies.
• Manage EHS risks so as to protect our employees, contractors, visitors, property and the environment from harm.
• Be proactive in the prevention of all incidents.
• Ensure every employee understands the extent of their individual responsibility in protecting themselves, others and the environment.
• Hold every employee accountable for program implementation, compliance, maintenance, development and improvement.
• Communicate all EHS concerns in a timely manner.
• Be measured, audited and evaluated as to its effectiveness. Bureau Veritas’ safety management system is regularly audited and externally certified to ISO 45001. We have also acquired ISO 14001 environmental management systems certification and maintain a valid certificate of recognition with the government of Alberta.

Quality Commitment

Quality Is Our Top Priority In Every Piece Of Data We Generate

At Bureau Veritas, data integrity and quality are clear priorities. Thanks to our rigorous Quality System, our customers can have complete confidence in every piece of data we generate. Over 30 QA managers, specialists and coordinators reinforce our Quality Management System through on-going monitoring, training and documentation. Our Quality Program is designed to comply with or exceed the data quality objectives of the industry, Canadian Regulators, US EPA and the International Standards Organization (ISO/IEC 17025). Bureau Veritas has a stringent quality adherence strategy supported through participation in many relevant national and international accreditation programs, licensing by government bodies and proficiency testing and double blind check sample programs.

Certification / Accreditation

Our laboratory facilities as well as our Quality System undergo assessment by an external accrediting body in order to have their policies and procedures approved and accredited. On occasion, Bureau Veritas customers will audit our facilities to satisfy requirements specific to their own business. Our Quality Assurance Department routinely monitors procedures/processes by way of compliance audits, quality system audits and method audits to ensure compliance with accreditation, client and regulatory requirements.

We are widely recognized as an industry leader for our quality practices. Our Forensic DNA laboratory was the first lab of this type to be accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. Our Food Sciences laboratory was the first approved by the USDA and the European Union to conduct hormone analysis in meats. Bureau Veritas' laboratories are accredited by MDDELCC, SCC and/or CALA, AIHA LAP, LLC, NELAP, NVLAP* for specified tests, certified by RTI or licensed by the MOE.

*Mississauga, On NVLAP Lab Code 600136-0
*Burnaby, BC NVLAP Lab Code 600163-0
*Kennesaw, GA NVLAP Lab Code 101125-0

Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)

Bureau Veritas adheres to requirements set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), as well as Health Canada and the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). We are certified by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) as an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) GLP facility for specific areas of expertise.

According to the decision of the OECD Council Acts on Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD), GLP compliant studies performed at Bureau Veritas are acceptable in all OECD member countries including the US and the European Union.

Regulatory data is reviewed by technical staff as well as independent quality control and quality assurance auditors. Our GLP/GMP facilities have been FDA inspected; Health Canada GMP licensed and continues to be inspected on an ongoing basis.  The GLP Quality Assurance Unit has extensive experience in auditing and monitoring technical conduct in the GLP laboratory and field studies. Our QA team includes several certified GLP quality assurance professionals.