The TSE Inspection Committee examined the practices of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality on site.

The Mersin Metropolitan Municipality passed the supervision audit of ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety Management System and TS EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System conducted by the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE). The committee evaluated the service performances and outputs they observed over a period of 2 days.

The closing meeting of the 2nd Supervision Audit of ISO 39001 Road Traffic Safety Management System and the 1st Supervision Audit of TS EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System was held by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality. The meeting was attended by municipal bureaucrats and the TSE Audit Committee. During the meeting, the committee explained the applications they observed for 2 days by evaluating the service performances and outputs of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality within the scope of the Road Traffic Safety Management System and Environmental Management System.

With the Environmental Management System, the aim is to reduce the use of natural resources in line with an environmentally friendly management approach; to minimize the damage to soil, air, and water; to monitor environmental performances; and to make Mersin a more livable and preferred city. With the Road Traffic Safety Management System, the goal is to raise awareness of road traffic safety among personnel, reduce fatalities and injuries caused by accidents, prevent loss of services and products, and ensure vehicle efficiency. By making data-driven measurements and improvements on the road network for which the Metropolitan Municipality is responsible, road and traffic safety is ensured.

“We said, ‘establishing a system is very important for us'”
Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Olcay Tok evaluated the 2-day work related to the Road Traffic Management System and Environmental Management System. Tok said, “We said, ‘establishing a system is very important for us.’ We are trying to institutionalize this, but it is very important for us that our masters look at it from an outside perspective. We also paid attention to this issue in the past. Today, the audits have ended, and we held the closing meeting.”

Tok expressed that they toured the Kitchen with the Chief Auditor Fatih Sağdıç and his team assigned by TSE and provided information about the ongoing expansion works of the Kitchen. He explained the project of building both a bread factory and a kitchen on a 30-acre area and provided detailed information about the Mersin Intercity Bus Terminal. Highlighting that they increased the departure points for vehicles from 2 to 5, Tok stated that the number of drivers, which was 390, has been raised to 858, and in addition to 207 buses, 272 new public transport vehicles have been acquired, of which 205 are environmentally friendly CNG vehicles.

“Every time we come, we see different and improving activities”
Chief Auditor Sağdıç, assigned by TSE, stated that they conducted a good inspection work, saying, “Every time we come, we see different and improving activities. We carried out our inspections for ISO 39001 and 14001. Both were supervision audits. We will submit the continuation of the documents to our Ankara Executive Committee for both inspections. Since it is supervision, we are writing it as the continuation of the document, not a renewal of the document.”

“Increasing adaptive intersections in road traffic safety would be beneficial”
Sağdıç mentioned that they saw the Mercan 100th Year Climate and Environmental Science Center on the first day, saying, “We observed the works of departments such as Public Works, Youth and Sports Services, Road Construction Maintenance and Repair, Transportation, and Municipal Police. We personally examined the Municipal Police on-site and saw their working conditions. We reviewed projects such as Metro, light rail system, and tramway in the Transportation Department. These projects are very important for road traffic safety because they are activities that will further reduce accidents. Especially, increasing adaptive intersections in road traffic safety would be beneficial. On the last day, we looked at the Road Construction Maintenance and Repair Department. There will also be a 17025 audit there. We reviewed what needs to be done in the laboratory together.”

“Quality is a journey, just like a life journey”
Auditor Emine Tosun pointed out that more work needs to be done on risks and opportunities in the units, stating, “The frequency of monitoring and measuring has increased compared to last year. You have set very nice targets. Quality is a journey, just like a life journey. You are making progress step by step.”
Auditor Esma Özçelik emphasized that all the personnel in the units they visited were very eager and involved, saying, “They want to showcase every service. You have very nice projects. I hope you take your work even further.”