Aradel Holdings Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest integrated indigenous energy companies, has obtained the ISO 45001:2018 certification for its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, the company announced, marking a milestone in the domestic energy industry’s push toward globally benchmarked operational standards.
The certificate was formally presented to the Lagos-headquartered company on Feb. 19 by CoreQuality CB Ltd, following a comprehensive independent audit of the company’s health and safety management infrastructure, Aradel said in a statement.
ISO 45001:2018, issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation, is widely regarded as the benchmark for workplace health and safety governance. It requires organisations to demonstrate proactive hazard identification, systematic risk management, regulatory compliance, and documented processes for continual improvement, criteria that auditors verified Aradel had met across its operations.
“For us, the first measure of success is safety,” said Adegbite Falade, managing director and chief executive officer of Aradel Holdings. “Attaining the ISO 45001:2018 certification reflects our unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and adherence to international standards.”
The latest accreditation adds to the company’s growing suite of internationally recognised certifications. Aradel already holds ISO 14001:2015, which governs environmental management systems, and ISO 9001:2015, the global standard for quality management. Together, the three certifications position the company as one of the most comprehensively accredited indigenous players in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, where safety and environmental records are increasingly scrutinised by institutional investors and international partners.
The timing is notable. Nigeria’s energy sector has faced growing pressure from regulators, global financiers, and domestic stakeholders to close the governance and safety gap with international peers, particularly as the country courts foreign capital for upstream development and downstream infrastructure.
For Aradel, which has been expanding its footprint across the energy value chain, the certification serves both a reputational and operational function. ISO 45001:2018 requires embedding safety commitments at the leadership level, mandating worker participation in safety processes, and establishing clear protocols for emergency preparedness and incident investigation — elements the company said are now formally integrated into its day-to-day management systems.
The certification process involved an external audit by CoreQuality CB Ltd to assess compliance, identify and close operational gaps, and validate the robustness of employee health and safety protocols across the organisation.
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