EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Operating sites of Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) have once again been recognized for meeting stringent international industry standards for environmental management and employee health and safety.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems sector sites in El Segundo, Palmdale and Rancho Bernardo, Calif.; Moss Point, Miss., and New Town, N.D., received International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 certification for environmental management. Northrop Grumman has a total of 16 ISO 14001-certified locations across all its operating sectors.
In addition, the Moss Point, New Town and Rancho Bernardo locations received the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 certification for managing health and safety in the workplace.
"Northrop Grumman's commitment to environmental management includes minimizing waste, practicing recycling and optimizing the energy consumption of our operations," said Duke Dufresne, sector vice president of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems' Western Region business unit. "We also take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe, productive workplace for our employees."
The certifications were issued by Advanced Waste Management Systems, an accredited third-party registrar, after rigorous certification audits conducted over multiple days in May 2008. Similar recognition for Northrop Grumman locations was achieved in 2006.
Certification audits assess Northrop Grumman's integration of business management practices with operational practices, corrective action programs and management review. They also assess employee awareness of company policies about environmental management and health and safety.
ISO, the world's largest developer of standards, is a network of international standards institutes from more than 140 countries working in partnership with international organizations, governments, industry and business and consumer representatives. The standards include the ISO 9000 for quality and ISO 14000 for environmental management, as well as some 14,000 international standards for business, government and society.
OHSAS 18000 is an international specification for occupational health and safety management. Certification under the specification's 18001 section recognizes the commitment of the organization's top management to workplace health and safety.
The company's El Segundo facility serves as the headquarters of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems and the sector's Western Region business unit. The site is one of the company's major advanced development and manufacturing centers. Major programs include the F-35 Lightning II (as a principal teammate to Lockheed Martin), the F/A-18 Super Hornet (as principal subcontractor to Boeing), an advanced radar system for the U.S. Air Force and numerous advanced development programs.
The Palmdale facility, one of the company's manufacturing centers, assembles the center fuselage section of the F-35 for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor, and is the final assembly site of the company's RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance system. In addition, the facility serves as the airframe maintenance depot for the B-2 stealth bomber.
The company's Unmanned Systems Development Center in Rancho Bernardo is home to unmanned aerial systems programs such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-8B Fire Scout, X-47 Unmanned Combat Air System and aerial targets.
The Moss Point facility is an assembly site for portions of the Fire Scout, Global Hawk and Hunter unmanned systems.
The New Town site specializes in assembling wiring harnesses for a number of Northrop Grumman's aircraft production programs.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.