Phwoar! It’s getting hot, but we’re working through the heat. It’s been a great month of work here at Five Rise. Let’s take you through a summary.

As always, we will start with our long-term partnership with certification body NQA. Our work with NQA has been a hybrid of both training and consultancy. On the training side, we firstly provided a one-day introduction to integrated management systems (IMS).

These one-day introduction courses really are an excellent way to get a first taste of ISO management systems without too much commitment. It is useful both for operations, QHSE, compliance managers (etc.) who are exercising the idea of getting their management system(s) certified, as well as individuals considering stepping into the career of auditing. The added benefit of this being an IMS course is that it covers a wide range of disciplines: quality, environmental and health and safety management, keeping plenty of doors open for those aforementioned professionals.

Secondly, also on behalf of NQA, we provided a two-day ISO 45001 internal auditor course, teaching delegates both the principles of auditing and ISO 45001 certified health and safety management, the end goal being the ability to audit their own organisation against the standard.

CLICK HERE to learn more / enquire about ISO 45001 Health & Safety Management services.

The courses were, as always, a pleasure to provide and we wish the delegates all the best going forward.

Our work with NQA this month went beyond just training, as we provided a number of audits on their behalf. This included a one-day audit at a Cumbria-based engineering firm and a comprehensive three-day audit at a Welsh timber company.

Away from NQA, we provided our own ISO 9001 auditing and consultancy service for an interesting company based in Bedfordshire which manufactures specialist laboratory equipment. This combined service allows us to both satisfy the standard requirement that the quality management system (QMS) is internally audited, while simultaneously making any necessary adjustments and updates to the QMS itself. A nice way of streamlining the two processes.

This was followed by a ‘sit-in’ on the same company’s surveillance two external audit. We provide this service regularly to long-term clients to provide assistance during the external audit, taking some of the stress away from the process of being externally audited.

CLICK HERE to learn more / enquire about ISO 9001 Quality Management services.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an activity update if we didn’t mention our work with Sheard Packaging – a long-term and regular client who we have built a very strong relationship with.

We were back at Sheard Packaging to offer the same combined consultancy and auditing service as previously mentioned for both ISO 9001 quality and ISO 14001 environmental management. We covered a range of compliance areas, most notably reviewing the organisation’s environmental aspects and impacts register, a key requirement of the ISO 14001 standard. By ensuring this register is up to date, the organisation is clearly aware of all the significant environmental aspects of their operations and can mitigate those as appropriate. In the long run, this significantly boosts the environmental friendliness of the organisation’s operations.

We also provided training at Sheard earlier in the month. This was an IMS training session, specifically for standards ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and was specially tailored to Sheard’s request that the wider workforce is trained on the IMS implemented at the organisation. By doing this, it ensures a cross-functional understanding of the IMS which helps the effective operation of the management system.

Readers of recent updates will be aware of our ongoing provision of an ISO 14001 implementation service at an Oxfordshire-based mechanical engineering firm. This work has continued, with the creation of all the ‘nitty-gritty’ forms, templates and registers necessary for the environmental management system.

Upon the completion of these documents, we managed a successful transition from the old EMS to the new one. The next steps here will be the operation of the EMS by the client. From this, the EMS will mature, and will be auditable and subsequently certifiable. The implementation process takes time, but it is best to be meticulous and get it right than rush and make unnecessary errors.

CLICK HERE to learn more / enquire about ISO 14001 Environmental Management services.

A full suite ISO 9001 quality audit was provided with a long-term client based on the south cast. This covered every aspect of ISO’s PDCA (plan-do-check-act) cycle. We started this month with a remote documentation analysis, checking all the required documents behind all sections. We will be revisiting soon, this time on-site, for an operational audit, which will allow in-person observations of the organisation’s 24/7 operations and their level of compliance. This is all in readiness for an upcoming external audit.

The cherry on top of this busy month came in the form of an ISO 9001 external audit provided on behalf of BM Trada at a manufacturer of glass items (I guess someone needs to do it!). This audit was on-site and covered all of the standard’s clauses. Overall, the organisation demonstrated good compliance with the standard.

As we step into May, keep an eye on our website as well as our social media pages (namely LinkedIn) for updates and industry insights. And, of course, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any help with your ISO management system, or you are considering getting your organisation certified. All the best!