Independent Company Safety Services (ICSS) engaged with SCS through a competitive tender process based on recommendation and reputation, to seek certification of their management process against the requirements of Quality (ISO9001), Environmental (ISO14001) and Health & Safety (ISO45001) Management System Standards’ requirements, as well as SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement).
ICSS have operated for over 10 years and specialise in Electrical Safety Compliance, with services such as Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), Fixed Wire Testing, Emergency Lighting Testing, Fire Alarm Testing, Lightning Protection, Periodic Inspection & Testing, Thermal Imaging and Mains Analysis, as well as Electrical Installation, for clients across UK and Ireland.
The Senior Management Team at ICSS identified certification as being a potential barrier to further market penetration and they also recognised that there could be internal benefits from developing their operating structure further whilst using the reflective practices of internal audit and management review to document both current performance and future improvement initiatives.
Given their extensive track record in the sector, ICSS wanted a certification that possessed the requisite competent personnel with technical knowledge of the requirements for electrical services, and also a professional approach to working together to enhance their capacity and capability in the long term through feedback. SCS immediately demonstrated a flexible approach to audit planning and were efficient in organising the certification activities, and from start to finish the initial certification journey was completed in less than five months, at a pace as requested by ICSS.
At the initial proposal stage SCS provided an ‘Auditee Handbook’ which helps to inform new customers about the certification activities, providing a go-to reference guide. Scheduling of audit dates was done in agreement and formal notification confirmed and communicated the plan, objectives and aims of the activities, to all parties. Whilst SCS were cost competitive, the audit was robust and challenging, and a detailed report was presented for review when the positive recommendation was explained. Despite the local holiday period, the certificates were presently quickly, enabling ICSS to communicate with their stakeholders about their achievement. ICSS and their consultant must be commended, as across the 3 standards, the initial audit process did identify any non-conformities and they were fully committed and communicative throughout.
“We were initially attracted to SCS as they are a local certification and their prices are realistic, but during the process, the real benefits were in the timely communication and the one point of contact responsible for our account. The audit team knew our business and were able to plan activities so that many of our people were included and so they contributed to the positive outcome, and although there were no negative issues identified, there were still several improvement opportunities raised for consideration.” Barry Gillespie, Operations Director
