Former Director of the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI), Dudley Rhynd, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the organisation he led for 35 years.
Mr. Rhynd received the award on Tuesday night for pioneering the development of the national standards infrastructure, during the closing dinner at the Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT) Annual General Assembly, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
During his brief remarks, acting Director of the BNSI, Hadyn Rhynd, lauded his father, Dudley Rhynd, as a “visionary”, saying he had approached the then Government with a proposal, which was accepted, and the BNSI was born 50 years ago.
“So, let’s fast forward 50 years…, the BNSI has the lead responsibility in the country to promote standardisation, and for producing technical standards on a wide range of products and services. We have an extensive work programme and it has been restructured to give special focus on the measures…to stimulate economic growth in our country,” the acting Director stated.
He indicated that BNSI has a voice at the table where its officials could also share transformative initiatives that bring “real solutions” to the global community.
In accepting the award, Mr. Dudley Rhynd said people had various opinions about standardisation when the effort was started to establish a standards body.
“Some were sceptical and others thought that it might be possible. Standardisation was considered as a dead end…. but to me, this was short sightedness. You will all recall the old saying that the stone that the builder reject will become the chief cornerstone, and this has proven right today, not only in Barbados of course, but elsewhere,” he stated.
The former Director congratulated the BNSI for reaching the milestone, and wished the organisation continued success.
During the evening, the BNSI also presented awards to businesses which implemented management systems of high quality and exceptional customer service. They were: Champers Restaurant, Harcourt Carter Optical, Massy Stores Supermarket Coverley, IB Solutions, and The Crane Resort.
Several standards bodies were also recognised during the dinner for their significant contribution to the 2023 COPANT General Assembly. The next COPANT General Assembly will be held in Brazil in 2024.