Kiwa Stories - Articles

Fort Alamo: Raba Kistner preserves a historic American landmark

Since 2019, Raba Kistner’s Cultural Resources team have been working on The Alamo, a historic Spanish mission and fortress founded in the 18th century, located in San Antonio, Texas. The objective of the project was to assess the condition of the Church and the Long Barrack, the oldest buildings on the Alamo historic site and where many Texian rebels made their last stand in the 1836 battle for Texas’ independence from Mexico.

Alamo Archaeology Kiwa group photo

New in our test portfolio: the ‘Hydrogen Embrittlement Test’

As one of the global leaders in hydrogen testing, we recently added an important new test method to our portfolio: the Hydrogen Embrittlement Test according to the ISO 11114-4 Method A - Disc Method

World Food Safety Day 2023

Did you know that every day an average of 1.6 million people around the world get sick because of unsafe food? This is one of many reasons why Kiwa’s Food, Feed and Farm teams will be joining the celebration of World Safety Day 2023 on Wednesday, June 7.

How PVEL’s ‘PV Module Reliability Scorecard’ is powering the energy transition

Kiwa Group member PVEL, short for PV Evolution Labs, has made it its mission ‘to support the worldwide PV buyer community by generating data that accelerates adoption of solar technology’. The recently published 2023 PV Module Reliability Scorecard is one more example of how PVEL is delivering on that mission.

Fish farming companies streamline certification processes

Cermaq Norway has had a taste of the advantage of coordinating certification audits. That is why they are now looking at the possibility of one common Multi Site certificate for ASC on all their fish farms.

New approach on building a management system

Built on strong SaaS expertise, Kiwa Comply™ saves time and streamlines processes with its extensive guidance material and connections between requirements. It simplifies documentation, enhances consistency, and facilitates information maintenance, offering a customer-oriented approach to building and maintaining quality systems.

Beekeeping, Beyond a Pastime – The Essential Role of Bees

At a maximum speed of 30 km/h, they fly through the air, the bees, from flower to flower and collect the precious nectar to turn it into honey. In doing so, they really make a difference. The bees travel no less than 120,000 km to produce a jar of honey (500g). That's the distance of three circumnavigations of the earth.

ISO 27001 gives us that crucial edge over the competition

Nedscaper supports organizations that want to organize their own cyber security and provides compliance services. This field of work places high demands on the safe and trusted handling of digital information. Lead compliance consultant Steijn Scheutjens explains how Nedscaper deals with this and recently saw its efforts in this area awarded with an ISO 27001 certification.

Celebrating World Chocolate Day: Exploring the Journey from Bean to Bar

On this delightful occasion of World Chocolate Day, we delve into the fascinating story behind one of the world's most beloved treats. Chocolate, with its tantalizing flavor and irresistible aroma, has a rich history that stretches back to ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica.

How a digital twin of your asset can make it easier to manage

Using a new tool from Vinçotte, asset managers will be able to collate and visualize their data, making it more manageable and actionable. The Virtual Inspection Administration (ViA) platform was designed to visualize data from remote visual inspection (RVI) techniques, including those using drones, remote cameras, endoscopes and crawlers.

All hands on deck for safety

With the Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) organizations can gradually increase their employees' safety awareness and reduce the number of accidents in the workplace. This is still necessary, even in civil engineering, where Dutch infrastructure specialist Van Vulpen is active. The company has been certified at SCL level 4 for several years. Jaco van der Ree, a safety expert at Van Vulpen, explains more about it.

Certifying sustainable salmon with ASC

Gratanglaks, a Norwegian salmon farming company, obtained ASC Salmon Standard certification with Kiwa's help, ensuring sustainable and environmentally responsible salmon farming. With over 2,000 ASC-certified farms globally, ASC is the leading aquaculture certification scheme, guaranteeing eco-friendly and socially responsible products. Learn more about Gratanglaks and the ASC certification.

Accelerating progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation

World Water Day 2023 focuses on accelerating progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation. Kiwa, an independent third party, is developing innovative solutions to improve water efficiency, safeguard supply, ensure water quality and support waste treatment to work towards SDG 6. Take personal action and partner with organizations committed to sustainable development to solve the water and sanitation crisis.

Dam safety experts improve their environmental management with ISO 14001

Hydroelectric plants produce 17 percent of the world’s energy. These systems rely on the environment – our waterways and surrounding areas – to function. ISO 14001 environmental management certification can support continuous improvement and show a commitment to the environment.

#EmbraceEquity: On International Women’s Day, meet four women at Kiwa

Gender equality remains one of the world’s biggest challenges. At Kiwa, we are committed to closing the gaps and improving gender equality. To mark International Women’s Day 2023, we spoke to four inspiring Kiwa women about their roles and career experiences and their advice to other women considering a similar career.

Delivering solutions to clients: Controlling bird, vermin and insect infestations

Pests can spread throughout a facility very quickly if not managed effectively. They can cause unsanitary issues, leading to legal action or public health concerns. Taking preventative action against pest damage is pragmatic, diligent and much more cost effective in both time and money – we can help you implement this.

Digi-Tags make audits easier at Janssen Pharmaceutica

There are few sectors where as many audits take place as in the pharmaceutical sector. An audit often involves requesting inspection reports of assets and examining asset management processes in a quick and safe way. Janssen decided to implement Vinçotte Digi-Tags, a solution making structured data accessible through a scan, while protecting confidentiality at the same time.

Royal Dutch Football Association includes Kiwa's Safe Social Climate label in licence requirements for professional football

Kiwa developed the Safe Social Climate label, designed to combat cross-border behaviour at sports clubs. In November 2022, Kiwa and the KNVB, the Royal Dutch Football Association, signed a three-year agreement to include the label in the licence requirements for professional football.

Protecting information through continuous improvement: ISO/IEC 27001

Information security is a major consideration for organisations around the world. Fortunately, the ISO/IEC 27000 family of standards is here to help to better secure corporate information assets. In 2022, ISO 27001 and its extension 27002 are subject to change. Marjolein Veenstra from Kiwa knows all about these standards and helps our customers on their journey towards continuous improvement of their information security.