Cinnamon Grand commended as first Sri Lankan hotel in uninterrupted ISO implementation

The Head of the ISO certifying body, Systems & Services Certification Business Manager of SGS Lanka (Pvt) Limited Batuvita Sumanasiri presented unprecedented kudos to Cinnamon Grand on the second re-certification audit for all three ISO certifications held in August this year.

“It is worthy to mention that Cinnamon Grand is the first hotel in Sri Lanka to obtain certifications against the three standards as well as the only one maintaining them without interruption for over six years,” he said in a statement.

Cinnamon Grand, which was the first five star city hotel in Sri Lanka to be certified in all three certifications, namely ISO 14001 for Environmental Management Systems, OHSAS 18001 for Health & Safety Management Systems and ISO 22000 for Food Safety Management Systems in March 2006, remains the only hotel in Sri Lanka to be continuously re-certified, the first in August 2009 and the second in August 2012.

With SGS Lanka being the certified auditor in all three instances, Sumanasiri possesses an in-depth knowledge of the systems and processes that Cinnamon Grand introduced and maintained from the genesis of this certification process, and says, “I found that the Integrated Management System established in 2006 was a solid foundation that has reached maturity with valuable contributions received from user departments. The system has undergone rapid institutionalisation during the last six years and has become part and parcel of the day to day management. In a nutshell, food safety, health safety and the environment have become the way of life of every employee in the organisation.”

A pioneer on numerous fronts, Cinnamon Grand has been extremely conscious of health, safety and environment, imbuing the tenets of sustainability into its everyday workings. The message is cascaded to every level of the organisation, journeying towards its goal of eventually becoming the greenest five star city hotel in Sri Lanka.

“Greenness comes with having a keen eye on every single detail around us,” elucidated General Manager Rohan Karr. “We are obsessed with details and that is not just from the business angle but from ensuring that our stakeholders know that when they embark and nurture a relationship with Cinnamon Grand, it becomes a two way relationship. It is our responsibility to ensure that the health and safety of every stakeholder and that the environment we live and work in is safe, healthy and sustainable. And the only way to ensure that this happens is to set ourselves benchmarks and strive to rise above those benchmarks. We are extremely proud that we have been commended for maintaining these international standards for six years, which is a first in the country. But as is characteristic of Cinnamon Grand, we will now improve on those benchmarks and continue to reach upwards and beyond.”

While the current recertification is valid until August 2015 subject to annual surveillance audits, Sumanasiri recalled that it was the CEO of Cinnamon Grand who instigated this journey, when he signed the integrated “SHE” policy which was cascaded to all stakeholders, including Associates.

This demonstrated the top management’s uncompromising commitment and dedication to food safety, health and safety and the environment, further augmented with training and development, resources and an empowering milieu to achieve total compliance with the policy.

“Today your organisation has reached the apex of maturity in the implementation of these systems where you reached beyond the basics and entered an arena of searching innovative methods to go beyond. You have realised and convinced your fellow employees that real improvement on food safety, health and safety and environment cannot be realised without the active contribution and participation from your stakeholders. Thus as a corporate social responsibility, you have extended your resources beyond the boundaries of the organisation to reach the masses. On behalf of SGS and my colleagues I congratulate you for the bold steps you have taken so far and trust that our support will be there right throughout this journey,” commended Sumanasiri, in conclusion.