https://www.iso.org/standard/62085.htmlSo, before going for ISO 14001 or ISO9001 certification, I’d recommend asking some challenging questions. Twenty-five years’ experience in this industry has taught me that the following issues are foundational.

Step 1 – “Why”? Do you want to win a tender, or is a profitable customer pushing you for ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 ? If you business has grown rapidly, Perhaps many of your staff might not understand how the overall business works. So you need properly defined processes and procedures for them to follow, and discipline to make and do things well.

Whatever the reason, (and all the above are perfectly acceptable drivers for introducing an ISO standard), make sure you understand why you’ve made the decision. Getting an ISO certificate can be rapid and inexpensive. For instance, I have implemented ISO 9001 in small, basic businesses with only 2-3 days of my time, where the priority was to respond to a tender which mandated approval of a certain standard.

However, the processes put into place under these circumstances are very basic, and unlikely to be very helpful if the aim is to tighten internal processes and improve consistency throughout the business. Under these circumstances more time is required for a consultant to work with staff and gain their buy-in to the new ways of working. So, a quick fix and a certificate on the wall, or something more?

Step 2 – A Matter of Time. I’m frequently surprised by the number of customers who pay for my services, and then don’t have the time to listen to what I have to say, or adopt the “best practice” which they tell me they want in their businesses. Even if you have excellent, disciplined processes already in place within your business, gaining certification WILL need some of your time, as what you put in really does have a bearing on what you get out.

Step 3 – Take Up Modelling. Are you ready to be  SEEN to support and apply the system? If you pay mere lip service to the new Quality Management System, then revert to your old ways of working (whenever your consultant or auditor isn’t looking), your staff will notice. They will not take something seriously if you don’t “model” it. If you want the correct process followed, make sure you do yourself. If you want something checking before you ship it, don’t push your staff to despatch everything they can find on the last day of the month just to get the figures up.

Step 4 – What Gets Measured Gets Done. What do you want to achieve in terms of Quality or the Environment? Your policy MUST be underpinned by measurable objectives, which, I’ve observed, most senior management teams struggle with. Reflect on whether your business is getting too many customer complaints, or too many returned products. Have your neighbours moaned about the noise from your machines or the Environment Agency your emissions? What are your big issues? And how can you measure improvement? This is a great driver for real measures within a “standards” framework. No consultant will be able to dream up such actions – it needs a knowledge of the business, and the real problems which it faces every day. Which only you have.

Step 5 – Give me a call! ( I understand there are other consultants but you should really go for the best… ), I’ve been working in ISO systems for over 25 years, with some of the largest employers in the UK, and many of the smallest. In many different industries, from telecoms to pharmaceuticals, nuclear power generation to web site production, software engineering and basic fabrication. And I began my career on the shop floor in Nottingham, so know industry literally from the ground up. There’s much to tell, and I’d love to help.

So, as an ISO Consultant advising businesses on compliance with ISO Standards , I’m often faced with serious minded business people who’ve seen a lot of the world and have a slightly cynical view of the standard they are being told they need to comply with. Is it worth investing their time and cash complying?

Then if you get past the “why” of compliance in a reasonable manner, there is always the question of how, in a busy overworked world, are these new needs and requirements going to be met, especially day in, day out ?

There are often opposite approaches to the issue, both extreme, both unhelpful to the business and largely incorrect.

On the one hand, there can be raging optimism. Of course, this is what the business has been waiting for, we will speed things up/keep customers happy/cut out waste/meet our targets/improve the bottom line. This visionary approach is, of course, refreshing, and it would be easy for me to nod, smile, and take my fee. If I didn’t need to return to the business at some point, prepare them for recertification, and pick up lots of broken pieces.

In contrast, there’s the cynical and curmudgeonly approach of the business-weary die-hard. We are only doing this because of the chance of a big order/ it has no bearing on the day-to-day running of the business/ the staff won’t engage with it/ it’s just expensive bureaucracy/can’t we buy the approval off the internet?, etc.. Some managers can make Eeyore from Winnie The Pooh seem like a motivational speaker. I often wonder how they rose in leadership, or even got out of bed that morning.

Yes, somewhere between the two viewpoints is a middle way, which is just about close to reality. Meanwhile, my work count on this blog is going up, and your interest is going down. So, what five points would I highlight regarding successful “buy in” to ISO compliance from your staff and managers.

1/ Start Where You Are! Employees will sniff immediately the attempt to impose a piece of “one size fits all” theory onto the complexities of their business. But they would love some structured solution to the frustration of doing things badly, doing things twice, fending off customers, etc. What are your main business challenges, and how can compliance to an ISO Standard address them? How do you see your business getting to where it wants to be?

2/ Hire an Experienced, No-Nonsense ISO Consultant (I can recommend one…) who has a foot in both camps, those of the theory of the standard, and it’s practical application. They can give vital help with 1/, because they have probably seen it all before. When you pay a consultancy fee, you are, of course buying not just a document clerk, but a head full of experience which can’t be bought from Amazon.

3/ Make Your Quality Management System Simple! Alas, I come across the “quality versus quantity” error regularly. A highly-paid consultant has created a huge tome via late-night “cut and paste”, which looks impressive, sits proudly on a shelf, and remains there until the internal auditors pluck up the courage to blow the dust of it, or it moves centre-stage in the pre-recertification visit. More is certainly less. Carefully written, a decent QMS proves “less is more”

4/ Sell! You need to convince your people that this is a good idea. However, you need to use the good salesman’s art of stressing “benefits” (what it does for the business), rather than “features” (what it consists of). The skilful salesperson will “scratch where the client itches”. We’re back to point one. Find out what needs fixing, what and how, then tell your folks that it’s going to be done, but we need everyone’s help.

5/ Find Some Champions. This should not all be “top-down”. You will need internal auditors. Correctly-chosen, they will be those who carry the burden of compliance. Again, like a good consultant, they will have a foot in both camps, QMS theory, and it’s application. Give them both freedom and authority, and the system will virtually run itself, as it becomes tuned to the harmonic of the business.

There is much else to tell on this subject, and I’d be happy to talk. My life began on the factory floor in Nottingham, circa 1977, so I’m a “bottom-up” kind of chap, who loves making things work in reality. Please be in touch!

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

In my work as an ISO Consultant , I frequently find organisations making the whole process leading to ISO Certification far too complicated. ISO Consultancy , and gaining certification, is all about starting where the business is, building a system that fits its activities, and making it something that is embraced by the enterprise on a daily basis.

I could cover a number of standards here, but it’s probably best to start with the foundational standard ISO9001 . So, apart from the many myths and legends of ISO consultancy, what would I suggest to a company seeking ISO9001 certification?

1. Don’t over document the system

The ISO 9001 requirements for HOW you define a process, and the level of detail you need to include, are generic . Broadly, they are inputs, desirable outputs, and controls. It’s that simple. However, as the standard needs to fit many different industries and types of business, the method of defining the process can vary according to a business’s requirements, for instance using flow charts, documented procedures or work instructions, whichever work best for your business. This means that you truly can meet the requirements of the standard without including a lot of detail.

This is often misunderstood and many companies spend unnecessary time and effort going into long in depth explanations, which are never or rarely read by the staff who are supposed to follow them. In defining a process the inputs should be considered (what material is it, what machines do you use etc.), and the desirable outputs (a finished work piece or service), then what controls are critical in converting the inputs into the outputs, for instance particular machine setting etc. That’s all!

However, if your motivation is to improve Process Control as well as gain certification, it should be remembered that simplified process controls can be counter-productive. So, it is important to include the level of detail you need as a business to ensure that a process is controlled to the level you need. For instance, if you are using unskilled, inexperienced labour you will probably need far greater detail in the document, process maps, flowcharts or whatever form of process definitions you produce. But only what you need, and certainly not too much. Don’t over-document!

2. Don’t include things which are not in the ISO standard

I am regularly surprised that companies continue to offer up departments to external certification auditors which are not mentioned in ISO 9001 and have very little impact on the Quality of the products or services being provided. Your auditor does not need a grand tour of the company! HR, Marketing, Finance and IT Services are all functions which may have a small input to the certification visits, but the departments as a whole are not really addressed. So don’t send the auditors in, (unless you have a personal vendetta of course!)

Training records are a typical issue which often draws the auditor’s eyes towards H.R., but why not arrange simple access to these records rather than taking the auditor into the department. This avoids auditors asking additional questions which may lead into areas which are not as well controlled as those directly involved with the product or service. More exposure, rather than “just enough” is not necessarily beneficial to ISO Certification.

ISO Consulting is often more about advising clients what to leave out, rather than what to leave in. In Part Two, we look at how this applies to “over-auditing”, and why ISO 9001 is actually deeply relevant to your business.

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

Working in ISO Consulting, I tend to see the same errors made when companies approach an audit, some of which I covered in Part One . Here’s part two of my guide to best practice in ISO 9001.

1. Don’t over audit

ISO 9001 doesn’t actually specify the frequency with which your processes or departments need to be audited, although the certification body’s tend to expect an annual review of the entire system. This doesn’t seem an unreasonable interpretation, but a different, more frequent audit can be justified and accepted by them if you wish to put in the effort.

ISO 9001 also suggests that you should vary the audits to concentrate on the areas where problems actually occur. The standard is primarily about better business, not better documentation and a certificate on the wall. This means looking at what problems the business really has, like on time delivery, product development time or support activities. These areas are more difficult to address, but with the support of the senior management they are also the type of issues which will truly make a difference to the business.

2. Analyse corrective actions

”Corrective Actions” give a good idea of where a business needs to make improvements.

Most companies rarely complete and correctly use their Corrective Action systems. The great tendency to “run off and put out the fire”, can result in little consideration being given to what started the fire in the first place. The analysis of where a business has had to take corrective action, and the identification of how to avoid its need in future is a very valuable tool, but one that is often not used to its capacity. Again, the standard should be driven by the quest for “better business”.

And many companies do not carry out simple analysis using recent data to ensure that findings are of value to the business. So, if you do decide to invest time in the analysis of performance data such as corrective actions make sure that the analysis is as quick and up to date as possible. Frequently, a report is published based on very detailed analysis, and produced in a very scholarly manner, but refers to products that have subsequently been updated, modified or even replaced. Simple analysis tools like Pareto should be used to ensure analysis is quick and easy wherever possible.

3. Choose objectives and targets which will be of interest to the business

Numerous articles have been printed over the years looking into whether ISO Standards make any difference to a business. For some reason we seem to be very good at forgetting changes which have been made for the better. Even something as simple and basic as the introduction of a good document control system can save a business money by improving delivery accuracy, product conformance etc. and can be invaluable if the business ever has to defend itself in legal actions.

And it’s essential that that the senior management team buy into the objectives set for the Quality Management System and that the objectives THEY choose will make improvements to the business. Wherever possible try to set objectives which can be linked to measurable figures, so that the improvements you drive can be given a true cash value, and hence be properly accepted as valuable to the business.

In over twenty years of working in the quality and standards industry, latterly as an Independent ISO Consultant , I’ve seen many organisations make ISO 9001 far too complicated and irrelevant to the business, with the result of disengagement of the staff.

Ironically, ISO Certification is not hard, unless people choose to make it difficult. The aim is better business. So, if you need an ISO consultant who can help you attain this, please be in touch!

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

If you are selling fabricated structural steel products into construction, you need to know about new EEC legislation, including BS 1090-1 and BS 1090-2, before the new legislation blocks you from the market. Yes, it’s that serious.

And no, it’s not yet more pointless bureaucracy. I have deep roots in manufacturing,beginning my working life in 1976, aged 16, bashing metal in a workshop in Nottingham. Plus, in recent times, I’ve worked with a wide variety of manufacturers and constructors in helping them to achieve a significant commercial advantage through ISO Certification. I take a pragmatic approach. This particular legislation literally stops things from falling down, and is probably well overdue.

So, The Construction Products Regulations 2013 (CPR) come into force in the United Kingdom on July 1st 2014, and place legal obligations on all those in this supply chain.  The first part of the regulations came into force during 2013, but the second relates to all Fabricated Structural Steel Components used in construction.

They are being introduced to protect UK and European markets from cheap substandard imports from non-European manufacturers, where the control of product specification and technical performance is not always as reliable. As the products could be holding up a bridge or sky scraper that I need to use at some point I’d like to think this is quite a sensible move and should help support UK and European manufacturing and fabrication, (as well as supporting office workers, roofs, vehicles and anything else that depends on steel…)

So what does this mean to those supplying this market ?

The regulations bring in a need to CE Mark products, which is evidence that the product is consistent with a ”Declaration of Performance”. The CE mark itself can be placed on the product, delivery paperwork or packaging as appropriate. The responsibility falls on whoever is introducing the item to the European Market, so if you are importing items from The Far East for instance, you become responsible for declaring the conformity of the materials and applying the CE mark.

Product records need to be retained for ten years and any complaints or non-conformance relating to the item, and corresponding corrective actions, become part of these records and similarly need to be retained for ten years. The regulations apply to all structural steel, welding consumables and structural fixings.  All items will need to be CE marked and have the appropriate Declarations of Performance.

BS EN 1090-1 and BS EN 1090 -2

“BS EN” indicates that these are Harmonised European Standards, meaning the British and European Standards are the same and implement the same controls and requirements across Europe. These standards introduce different levels of Quality Management required for the end use of the products, hence the controls for long span bridges and power stations are more stringent than those for ornamental plant-pot holders, etc.

Notified Body

To gain a CE Mark, an assessment by a Notified Body is necessary and will necessitate a potential supplier having :-

1. A Factory Production Control (FPC) System, including implementation of the FPC procedures and records of initial type testing.

2. A Quality Control System, preferably compliant with  ISO 9001

4. Welding quality management system compliant with ISO 3834

5. Access to an IWE/IWT qualified responsible welding coordinator.

6. Any products which make up the items supplied under the agreement must be purchased from CE marked sources and have supporting test certification.

If this seems slightly overwhelming and potentially expensive, please don’t worry. We like to make certification and compliance straightforward, practical, and cost-effective. So, for more details and assistance, please drop us a line.

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

In our previous blog, we looked at the advantages of having a formal Quality Management System, such as those found in ISO standards like ISO 9001

In my on-going campaign to simplify the often over-complicated world of standards, I’ve summed up the functions in four hopefully helpful paragraphs.

1. A Quality Management System stimulates a formal review and management approval of customer orders, quotes and estimates. Simply, “can we do what we’ve promised, within our resources, and on time?”. Yes, staggeringly, some management teams seem to exist in a visionary realm without a true grasp of the actual capability of the enterprise, over-promising and under-delivering.

2. It establishes a structured, documented method for delivering products and services. “What gets measured, gets done”. At worst, the QMS document sits in a large file in a manager’s office. At it’s very best, it’s driven by best practice, based on doing things well in the real world, and understood by all involved. It should improve the consistency of the products and services delivered.

3. The Quality Management System should encourage formal planning of how a company is going to deliver acceptable standards of product and service. It’s a vital “reality check”. Airline pilots have a wonderfully dry sense of humour. One saying I’ve heard is “Well, I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re certainly making good progress”. Sadly, several companies I’ve encountered in my thirty years in the quality industry seem to have poured much of their effort into producing sub-standard products, unwanted by the customer, and delivered late. No-one stopped, sat down with key players for serious thought and discussion, and considered if they were heading in the right direction. The “long hard look” formalised by a QMS forces regular “management reviews” of the business and its performance.

If you don’t have a QMS, ask “why not?” Is it because you can’t be bothered to document how and why you do things, or are you genuinely one of those businesses which is so simple that the processes can’t go wrong (clue – there aren’t many of those). If you do have a Quality Management System, are there further sales and opportunities possible through getting it certified to an approved ISO standard, and therefore recognised in the market place.

In a recent poll 86% of companies who had gained certification reported that as a result they had gained new business or held onto business which was under threat. So, it’s worth it.
Please get in touch if you need our help. We promise to keep it simple, but effective…………..

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

ISO management system standards have now been impacting on the UK business community for over 25 years, yet there remains an air of mystery around even the common standards like ISO 9001

One term misunderstood is Quality Management System or QMS. Most companies have their own QMS, though most don’t realise it or have it written down. It’s just your way of working, and preferably with a few checks and balances built in to make sure you’ve done the things you intended, in the way you intended. The Ministry of Defence were one of the pioneers, so the original systems were often over-complicated and hard to understand. In my campaign to make the complex simple, I thought I’d describe the “why and “what” of the Quality Management System.

“Why?”

1. Stand Out! An effective certified management system shows you as different to your competitors. You’ve sat down and thought how you do things well, or not, taken some advice, and achieved an internationally recognised standard. Not everyone does. You are now ahead of the crowd.

2. Because Quality Doesn’t Just Happen. Once a business expands beyond one employee, consistency of product or service can be an issue. Word of mouth data can’t be relied upon for activities such as the construction of a medical device or aerospace component. Management may convince themselves that all their personnel are “singing from the same hymn sheet”, but would be shocked to find that some are singing in a Country and Western style, others are Jazz-Rapping. An effective Quality Management System means an agreed standard, procedure, and outcome. Simple.

3. Potential customers need to be assured you are trustworthy. Would you climb in a taxi that had no MOT? Failure of a product or service affects more than your reputation, but also the livelihood, or even the very existence of your customers. A friend of mine drives a small car with a known weakness in the gearbox. The warranty claims have probably destroyed any margin made on sales, but the widespread knowledge of the fault have destroyed the reputation of this vehicle. This customer will never buy another car from this manufacturer, even though the cost of correcting the weakness would have been very little when first in production. A QMS written up to an ISO standard assures your clients of your diligence in procurement and production. You can be taken seriously.

4. Good products and services don’t happen by accident, they need to be checked. Regularly Sadly, many a successful market innovator, buoyed by their initial success, begin to believe their own marketing hype, fail to grasp the need for good old down-to-earth consistency, and fail to fulfil their potential due to the inability to do things right every time. No business can survive long term without satisfying customers, this need’s to be a managed intention.

So, that’s the “Why” of a Quality Management System, a key component of ISO standards in the UK and across the world. Read on to see the “What” simplified.

Written by Colin Brown of ISO Consultants

Mark Sutton Non Ferrous is that rare thing, an enterprise using skills that are over three thousand years old, trading with major customers across the UK, and about to benefit from ISO9001 accreditation as an SME “punching above it’s weight”

Someone from a government-funded business development department would probably tell owner Mark Sutton that he’d be better off being a web designer or retraining in media studies. No, his skills as a foundryman are not part of a heritage theme park just yet.

He’s pouring hot metal somewhere on the outskirts of Nottingham, making a living, and doing something he truly loves.

In fact, far from being in a dying trade, he does have customers waiting to place major orders, but, until now, with some of the larger ones, this hasn’t been possible. No, there’s no issue with quality of the work, pricing or lead times. Some potential orders are simply dependant on Mark’s small business attaining accreditation.

Now, Mark being a resourceful chap, would have loved to have found an “idiot’s guide” on the internet, and done the work himself for very little cost. But, as he found, such instant fixes don’t really exist. Being by nature self-reliant, the prospect of getting someone in to advise was certainly against his basic principles. He confesses that this was a financial risk. But then he called Colin Brown of ISO Consultants.

Many working in the quality and standards industry have only ever seen a factory floor in documentary films. However, Colin began his working life as a craft apprentice for one of Nottingham’s biggest manufacturers, and, as a child, was taken to his father’s workplace and shown molten metal being poured at a much bigger foundry, the long-gone Stanton Iron Works in Ilkeston. So, there was an immediate affinity.

Colin’s style is simple, straightforward, and realistic. Mark was surprised that, to attain the required standard, his innate skill in production and dedication to quality simply needed to be analysed and documented, with Colin simply slotting observed best practice into a formalised quality management system. Was the whole process daunting? No, confesses Mark. Colin “did it all” and sat with the assessor during the audit.

Small businesses may fear that ISO9001 approval is costly, complex and irrelevant. Not so. Mark now gets calls from major customers asking, ”How’s the ISO9001 approval gone?” and “let us know when you’ve got it”.

It’s early days for Mark Sutton Non Ferrous as an ISO9001 approved SME, but the no-nonsense skilled foundryman Mark is more than convinced that it’s been a wise investment.

What can you compare the job of ISO Consultant to? Occasionally, it seems a very strange job, running an ISO Consultancy. There are parallels with being a vicar, priest, or miscellaneous other minister of religion. Now, I wouldn’t say that being an ISO Consultant is a holy calling of The Almighty. However, in trying to interpret rules and standards from “on high” to a practical, workable scheme of things, like ISO 9001, and getting folks to embrace it in their daily working lives, there are great similarities.

And then there are the continual challenges of common misconceptions. Put simply, “myths and legends” that don’t really have much to do with the true essence of what ISO Standards are all about. Here are ten of them:

1. You can tell a good Quality/Environmental/Health and Safety System document by its weight/thickness.

No. “Less” is often “more”, providing it makes a difference to your business.  It helps you meet your business objectives. Usually, concise systems are more effective.  Because people are more likely to read, understand, and follow them.

2. Implementing an ISO based system, such as ISO 9001, is a major project and means you have to change the way you run the business.

Generally “No”,  but there are usually a few things to be changed. All companies have “processes” , even if these aren’t documented. A good ISO-Based Quality Management System should be written around how you already do business, not consist of alien practices inflicted to get you through the certification. Your business is unique, and the ISO system needs to be based around that uniqueness. Protecting, nurturing and helping it grow. In short, it’s purpose is to support and formalise the good bits of what you’re already doing well, rather than impose badly-fitting bureaucracy.

3. The Quality/Environment/Health and Safety Manager is responsible for Quality/Environment/Health and Safety, and lives in their own world. Meanwhile, the rest of us get on with running the business profitably.

No. This might be acceptable if we lived in a world with no fines for breaking laws, and accidents never happened. However, in this area there are very serious implications for non-compliance. So ideally, there shouldn’t be anybody in an organisation whose operations aren’t affected by them. In successful companies, with well-designed ISO systems, no-one should be able to notice that they are actually working to a standard. They should truly be part of “business as usual”. It’s safer (and cheaper) that way, too.

4. All these quality systems are just government bureaucracy and don’t do anything for the business.

This is closely related to myth three (above) Although backed by governments internationally, properly-written business-focused standards should help, not hinder companies. A good Quality Management System should help you be more efficient and consistently meet your customer’s requirements. Environmental health and safety systems, although protecting your staff and surroundings, should also help you avoid large fines, some of which could be large enough to threaten the whole future of your business. Properly-implemented, they should lead to contented customers, more efficient activity, and better business.

5. Quality systems are really just about controlling documents. Therefore, if in doubt, sign everything.

Perhaps in the past, quality systems in particular were over- focussed on documentation. But changes over the last 10-15 years have aimed them much more at improving effectiveness and efficiency. That said, the control of information within a business remains important, and for good reasons. You can’t manage without documentation, but it should serve the business, rather than the business serving it.

6. We can hide our problems areas. If you manage the auditors properly, you can keep them in the Quality Managers office all day.

Being clever with the auditors and keeping them away from problem areas may be a crafty and useful tactic in the short-term. But if your systems are really any good, then you shouldn’t have problem areas that you aren’t addressing. However, if you do have weak areas, then honesty really is the best policy. If you are taking action to improve things, then auditors should respond positively, and letting them see what you’re doing can be positive for two reasons. Firstly, they know you are committed to improvement. Secondly, having seen lots of similar situations before, they may actually be able to offer advice. This is the “auditor as business improvement consultant” approach, and is highly effective.

7. It’s always best to keep your mouth shut and only give the minimum of information to the auditors.

Yes, but don’t expect to get a lot out of the audit if you don’t put much in. Make some more words up !

8. The auditors are only looking for reasons to fail you.

Funnily enough, in over 20 years’ experience of this environment I’ve rarely found an auditor who just wants to fail people. This is their job, day-in, day-out, and very few people can be so negative for so long. However, if you really don’t get on with your auditor, then change him. If the certification body aren’t helpful with this, then change them too. There are around 120 certification bodies in the UK so you have plenty of choice, and they all take very kindly to people changing from their competitors, so you might even find a lower cost alternative.

9. Environmental systems just increase your operating costs.

An Environmental Management System (EMS), such as ISO 14001, should not be about tree hugging and love for little furry animals. It’s no longer a PR-friendly “nice-to-have” marketing tool, but should be make very sound business sense. And why? Breaking environmental law now has very expensive consequences. It could even be enough to push you into liquidation. Ignorance of the legislation affecting your operations is no defence, so having a good environmental system which is properly maintained should keep your business lawful, and you out of jail. Yes, and I really do mean “jail”

10. If you get one well written set of risk assessments, then you’ve addressed your Health and Safety requirements, and the staff can carry on as normal with their everyday jobs.

Health and safety systems are now a commodity like most other things. If you just want some risk assessments then you could buy them in. But the value of such systems is in them being applied to real business life. Do you really want your staff knocking holes in walls without checking if there are mains cables hidden in the plaster, or driving stacker trucks without being trained ? Health and Safety isn’t a matter of documentation. It should be a matter of practice, though documentation and records are, unfortunately, required.

If you’ve read this far, then you’ve got a good idea of how I work.

Hopefully, you will get some idea of the challenges of being a ISO Consultant. There is an art in keeping compliance and business success in tension, which involves large amounts of both technical comprehension and hard-won common-sense. After over twenty years in the industry, and having advised many types and “flavours” of enterprise, I suspect that I may have at least a few things to offer to your organisation. And I’d be happy to “bust” a few more myths that I’ve not mentioned here.

So, if you need more plan-speaking from an ISO consultant, please be in touch!