BOC North American facilities receive ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Business Editors

MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 2003

BOC (NYSE: BOX), a leading supplier of industrial gases, reached a significant milestone in quality management with the implementation of an ISO 9001:2000 management system in more than100 production facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

The newly revised ISO 9001:2000 standard reinforces a management system focused on customer satisfaction and continual improvement. The standard will be used to address customer needs, comply with regulatory requirements and meet BOC's own safety and quality standards.

Lloyds Registrar Quality Assurance conducted intense audits at more than a dozen North American BOC locations selected at random to validate the company's level of compliance with the new standards. The registration audits examined every aspect of BOC's management system to ensure that the company was doing exactly what its documentation and the standards require.

The audits confirmed BOC's compliance without noting a single non-conformance issue, a result that Brian Walsh, president, Industrial and Special Products, BOC, termed "an outstanding achievement.

"Receiving this certification confirms our leadership among industrial gases companies. It is a source of pride to the thousands of BOC employees whose dedication to safety, health, environment and quality have made this possible," Walsh said.

BOC's ISO 9001:2000 registration comes less than a year after the company rolled out a web-based integrated management system and standards (IMSS) to all ISO 9000 sites in North America. The IMSS brought together safety, health, environment and quality systems and standards in a single electronic library, auditing and training tool for BOC managers.

Charlie Koehler, director, safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ), Process Gas Solutions, BOC Americas, stated, "BOC is a world-class company that takes its SHEQ responsibilities very seriously. The IMSS involves all North American BOC employees in SHEQ activities on a daily basis and, because of that, employees can feel confident that they are working for a safety-conscious and environmentally-concerned organization -- and our customers can be assured that the product they receive consistently meets the highest quality standards."

The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX), the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 46,000 people and had annual sales of some $7 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.boc.com.