Mirko Gavrilovic, Business Manager at SGS – Complying with the best practices and regulations ensures sustainable business

Mirko Gavrilovic, the business manager at SGS, presents the solutions and services and the company offers when it comes to occupational protection and safety, but also points to the crucial importance of cyber security. He also clarifies how important it is to comply with the best practices and regulations.

How many companies in Serbia comply with the best practices, and how many are harmonized with the regulations? In which field do they most frequently need advice and solutions?

The best validated practices in the operations of organizations from various industrial fields are used precisely as the basis for preparation of international standards for management systems. Also, large companies develop internal standards. Meeting those standards` requirements is one of the most important business performances for those companies. The situation in Serbia cannot be generalized. There are organizations which are fully dedicated to meeting the requirements of the regulations and international standards, and there are those where this trend is not satisfactory. In that sense it is very important for the decision-makers within an organization to understand the importance of this topic, because the development of an organization, accompanied by efforts to honor the best practices and regulations, although more demanding, ensures business sustainability. Within the SGS Academy in Serbia, we are getting more and more requests in the fields of safety and health protection, environmental protection, implementation of certain management tools to the end of improving business efficiency, information security management etc.

Disinfection Monitored is one of the services that SGS offers. How does it improve good hygiene practice?

According to a survey by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 69% of the subjects said that the cleanliness and the measures of health protection are crucial in choosing which hotel they will stay in. As many as 92% said that they trusted their friends, family and their travel experiences more than all other marketing ads. A survey carried out by IATA also showed airplane seat disinfection as one of the main measures in making decisions about traveling. It is apparent that trust is one of the key factors. Disinfection Monitored is a program that was established in Spain in 2007. Due to the pandemic, requests pertaining to the protocols of prevention of the spreading of COVID have been implemented into the program. The implementation of this program improves the protection of employees, clients, visitors, and with that the protection of one`s own business. The most important activities within this service are management and supervision over the processes of cleaning and disinfection, their verification and validation through the sampling of the cleanliness of the environment and the testing in the client`s location itself, with adequate software support. By taking part in said program, our clients are able, thanks to the recognizable SGS sign, to communicate with their clients and other interested parties, letting them know that they have control over the hygiene and the protocols of prevention of the spreading of COVID-19 and that an independent, credible organization periodically checks this.

The system of occupational health and safety (OHS) is the main part of the strategy of the organization of risk management. How can companies switch to this standard and what is SGS` role in it?

There are still very few organizations certified under the ISO 45001:2018 standard – Systems of Management of Occupational Health and Safety, considering the number of registered business entities in the Republic of Serbia. This standard is applicable to all organization that want to improve OHS aspects and thereby ensure that the working environment is healthy and safe, regardless of the size, the type and the activities of the organization. It is very important for the top management of an organization to understand the importance of the essential, and not just formal, implementation of said standard. We live and work in a time of accelerated changes and due to the constant changing of the context, setting an adequate strategy and a valid methodology for the management of risks and circumstances in an organization is of essential importance. Through check-ups, SGS, determines the level of fulfillment of the standard`s requests. Based on the conclusions defined in the Report, the organization initiates adequate measures to remove the causes of the detected or potential areas of non-compliance. During additional check-ups, SGS monitors the effectiveness of the implemented measures so that the business operations would be constantly upgraded. It is important to note that the accredited certification, in this case, the certification of the ISO 45001:2018 standard does not guarantee that the law is complied with, but it is a proven and efficient means of achieving and maintaining the harmonization with the legal requirements (see document IAF MD 22:2019).

Data safety and protection from cyber attacks is in the focus of most modern companies today. In what way can SGS provide support here?

At the time when technology is getting more and more advanced and applicable in everyday activities, it is of crucial importance to honor the perspective of cyber security. When it comes to this issue, SGS has created a set of services that can be used by interested parties to check the security of the information infrastructure and networks. These are the service of certification, which entails the checking of the implementation of security protocols and protection of physical and logic systems, the service of checking through penetration tests and the especially interesting service of monitoring, through which we offer a constant supervision of the scope of the IT infrastructure of an organization. Our cyberlab, located in Madrid, is fully equipped and monitors our clients` property worldwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Has the coronavirus pandemic changed the companies` positions of OHS?

The legal regulations have changed, so the organizations themselves were obliged to set up certain protocols in order to meet their requirements. Control over the implementation of the adopted protocols is of essential importance, as is determining the causes of why they are not implemented or what needs to be improved when it comes to their implementation.