Douglas Stafford achieves international quality management standard.

Douglas Stafford, a company whose services include mystery shopping, has attained ISO 9001:2008 in recognition of its quality management systems (QMS). The internationally recognised standard was achieved through Certification International.

Douglas Stafford has worked with large blue chip companies across a broad range of consumer markets for more than 20 years, delivering performance improvement programmes which help them measure, understand and improve their customers’ retail experiences. These are achieved through highly cost-effective mystery shopping and customer surveys, and are supported by industry-leading training programmes and processes that are proven to improve standards of customer service. In achieving ISO 9001:2008, it ensures first class quality management systems are in operation throughout Douglas Stafford’s operations and that these systems are monitored and maintained for future improvement.

Assessing Douglas Stafford for ISO 9001:2008 provided a particular challenge for Certification International’s auditors as the identity of a mystery shopper and their activities need to remain unknown. However, a solution was found to ensure its auditors were able to monitor Douglas Stafford staff without their work being identified by the retailer.

Douglas Stafford’s commercial director John Fieldhouse comments: “As a company we have always maintained a documented quality management system – it’s essential to maintaining a consistent level of quality. However, since we were getting more requests asking whether our quality systems were certified to a recognised standard, we made the decision to update our QMS in line with ISO 9001. The majority of our larger clients have ISO 9001 and prefer to deal with certified suppliers. We worked with Dean Moriarty Consulting to update our QMS to meet the required standard – a key contributor to our successful certification. In fact, the auditor reported to Certification International that Douglas Stafford’s QMS was one of the best systems he had come across and was well constructed and really well implemented. Our achievement has been due to the commitment of the whole team. However, our success has been driven by having champions of the cause at senior management level and the co-operation of somebody who understands the nuts and bolts of the business.”

Certification International is a UKAS accredited organisation which provides assessment, analysis and certification services to companies of all sizes across a variety of standards.

Certification International’s UK business manager Emma Fawcett-Jones says: “Although the auditing process provided a challenge, we were able to work with Douglas Stafford to find a suitable solution. As a mystery shopping company, it is important that Douglas Stafford has systems in place to ensure it can offer a high quality service which retailers can have confidence in. We’re delighted they have achieved certification to ISO 9001:2008 as it demonstrates the strategy they have in place to ensure quality remains at the forefront of all of its activities.”

Certification International, a leader in the field of assessment and certification of international, national and industry standards, has incorporated a new auditing software system – Exero Beyond – into its assessment processes.

Exero Beyond has been created to evaluate the compliance of an organisation’s management system against a range of standards, and it offers a pioneering approach to auditing. Certification International has introduced the system in order to advance the delivery of its third party certification services.

Exero Beyond collates input from all participants throughout an organisation without the disruption normally endured during traditional auditing. The multi-level system reports on all areas and processes within a company. In an organisation – where further investigation may be required – third party certification assessors can use this data to focus their onsite audit visit to target the areas and processes highlighted.

Certification International’s managing director John Pymer says: “The introduction of Exero Beyond provides us with a truly advanced approach to assessment and certification. It allows as many people as an organisation wants to participate so we achieve a better picture than can be gathered from face-to-face interviews and looking at records. This means that during an onsite visit an auditor‘s focus can be directed to the areas and processes that need most attention. Its biggest benefit to clients is that it saves them both time and money whilst providing a true insight into their operational workings – highlighting opportunities for improvement and bringing to light potential risks and threats. Our aim has always been to exceed client expectations and Exero Beyond ensures that we can take this commitment to a new level.”

Certification International is a UKAS accredited organisation with more than 5,000 clients in 26 countries. It provides assessment, analysis and certification services to companies of all sizes across a wide range of standards. For further information about Certification International and its services visit www.cert-int.com.

Being ‘green’ and environmentally friendly is now expected of all companies as we have become more aware of the need for sustainable resources and the effects of pollution. Sadly though, many companies are still not doing enough and continue to make costly mistakes – costly in terms of both potential savings that could be made and cost to the environment too.
 
Energy and climate change legislation, for example, can be confusing for some companies and there is a high percentage who still do not realise that they pay a Climate Change tax for the energy they use – on top of the price they pay for the use of the energy. This is a shame because properly focused, costed and effectively implemented energy reduction initiatives can bring benefits both in terms of reduction of energy used and reduction in the climate change levy tax that needs to be paid. Also, there are specific grants available from central government to fund certain capital investment projects that meet the defined criteria for funding.

Waste management in particular continues to be an area where companies often fail to recognise their legal responsibilities. Waste disposal processes need to be properly managed – including ensuring that the waste contractor that is being used is a properly licensed and authorised carrier for the waste. Companies should also know where the waste is being taken and that the location is properly licensed to receive and process the waste. Also, many companies still fail to use all possible recycling options for the waste streams that they generate and often simply throw rubbish into a general waste skip. In other words they are not always thinking about the costs associated with landfill disposal – or the environmental impact. Many are unaware of the opportunities that are available for recycling waste and which, in some cases, could generate a small income from the recycler.

Similarly there is a requirement for clients to properly manage their F-Gas (Fluorinated Green House Gases) plant and equipment – i.e. chillers, coolers and air-conditioning equipment – which all contain highly ozone-depleting gases. These items need to be properly maintained to ensure that they do not leak gases into the atmosphere. Companies are often not aware of this and have no maintenance regimes in place. In January 2015 a total ban on certain types of F-Gas is coming into force but few clients have started to plan and budget for this. Required actions will include either de-gassing units and re-gassing with compliant gas or replacing the chiller units at potentially great expense.
 
However on a more positive note many companies are increasingly demonstrating much more awareness of their environmental responsibilities and are actively taking measures to comply with new legislation. This may be because of the high visibility of environmental issues covered by the media but is also down to more awareness of the ever-increasing taxes imposed by Government on high polluting industry sectors as well as general taxations relating to waste energy.

It obviously takes time for age-old established habits and customs to get replaced by ‘new-thinking’ but environmental awareness within the corporates has been steadily growing over the last two decades and the shift to ‘greener’ operations is now becoming more mainstream. There are still a few stragglers that remain to be convinced but thankfully they are now in the minority.

Today care for the global environment has never been so important. It is not just about ‘being green’ and socially responsible but much more. It is about the long term sustainability of the planet we live on and it is good to see that after so many years governments and big corporate companies around the world have at last started to take such matters seriously.

The original concept for an environmental management system, or EMS, can be traced back to 1972, when the United Nations (UN) first organised a conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was also launched. These and other early initiatives led to the establishment of the “World Commission on Environment and Development” (WCED) and the adoption of the ‘Montreal Protocol’ and ‘Basel Convention’. It was the first Earth Summit in 1992 in Rio-de-Janeiro though, which first generated a global commitment to the environment.

In the same year, BSI published the world’s first environmental management systems standard – BS 7750. This created the template for the development of the ISO 14000 series in 1996 by the International Organisation for Standardisation which has representation from committees all over the world. Today, ISO 14001 is used in thousands of organisations across 159 countries.

The ISO 14001 standard represents the core set of standards used by organisations for designing and implementing an effective environmental management system. Another standard in the series is ISO 14004 which gives additional guidelines for a good environmental management system. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series is “to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organisations and to provide useful and usable tools – ones that are cost effective, system-based, flexible and reflect the best organisations and the best organisational practices available for gathering, interpreting and communicating environmentally relevant information”.

Unlike previous environmental regulations, which were more ‘command and control’ oriented, ISO 14000 is based on a voluntary approach to environmental regulation. In other words it acts both as an internal management tool as well as a way of demonstrating a company’s environmental commitment to its customers and clients.

Prior to the development of the ISO 14000 series, organisations voluntarily constructed their own EMS systems which made comparisons of environmental effects between companies very difficult. The more universal ISO 14000 series was developed for this very reason.

The ISO 14001 standard therefore serves as a framework to assist organisations in developing their own environmental management system and can be integrated with other management functions assisting companies in meeting their environmental and economic goals.

The main aim of ISO 14001 is therefore to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance, whilst complying with any applicable legislation. Organisations are responsible for setting their own targets and performance measures, with the standard serving to assist them in meeting objectives and goals.  This means that two organisations with completely different measures and standards of environmental performance can equally comply with the ISO 14001 requirements.

The standard can be applied to a variety of levels in the business, from organisational level down to the product and service level and rather than focusing on exact measures and goals of environmental performance, the standard highlights what an organisation needs to do to meet these goals. 

As with all standards success of the system is very dependent on commitment from all levels of the organisation, especially top management, who need to be actively involved in the development, implementation and maintenance of the environmental management system. 

ISO 14001 is known as a ‘generic management system standard’, meaning that it is applicable to any size and type of organisation, product or service. It covers almost all types of activity and is able to accommodate diverse socio-cultural and geographic conditions. Also, all standards are periodically reviewed by ISO and new ones issued as and when applicable.

Certification International is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to provide certification to ISO 14001 and our aim is to support organisations wishing to minimize the way in which their operations affect the environment as well as assisting with compliance to applicable laws and regulations.

Hardly a week goes by without the media reporting another scare story or scandal relating to food safety.  Sometimes it’s a horror story about a food establishment breaking food storage and preparation rules leading to food poisoning – even restaurants owned by celebrity chefs, such as Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, have hit the headlines – or it could be a new scientific finding about a particular food product that damages our health.

What is very clear is that after many years of bad press about food safety it is now something that is taken very seriously indeed.  We are proud that Certification International was one of the first UK certification bodies qualified to offer UKAS accredited certification services for the food safety management systems standard, ISO 22000:2005.  ISO 22000 certification demonstrates a commitment to food safety across the whole supply chain in order to deliver safe food products to the final consumer.

The standard is operated within the framework of a structured management system which means it is incorporated within the overall management activities of the organisation.  It also enables efficient integration and seamless compatibility with other quality management systems such as ISO 9001:2008.  In terms of this important standard Certification International works with a variety of organisations in order to provide assessment services in a variety of food chain sectors including:

• Poultry farmers
• Food processing facilities
• Food manufacturers
• Caterers
• Restaurants

While we focus on the certification elements of food safety we also work with other bodies that address similar issues.  For example, the Food Standards Agency works closely with local authority food law enforcement officers to make sure that food law is applied throughout the food chain.  The agency also provides advice on a range of enforcement issues which sets out the rights and responsibilities of enforcement authorities and food businesses, and helps ensure that food safety and legal requirements are maintained and monitored.  The agency also ensures that local authority monitoring of food businesses is carried out correctly by carrying out audits and collating data on local authorities’ enforcement activity.

In order to reinforce the message about the importance of following sensible guidelines relating to the way we manage food, the agency is launching a new initiative this year: “Food Safety Week 2012: Food safety on a budget.”  The event takes place from June 11-17 and will promote the importance of good food hygiene in the home and on how people can ensure that they keep their food safe when trying to save money.  Some of the key messages will include understanding ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates, safe use of leftovers and planning of meals.

These are only three simple examples of how the campaign is trying to spread important messages to consumers which is good news for certification bodies like Certification International.  The more we can educate people through good communication and reinforce those messages through certification standards the safer our foods will be for all of us.
 

Defining what is meant by the word “Quality” goes back a long way. Even Plato and Socrates spent a lot of their time discussing and debating this elusive term and I think they would be very surprised to learn that it is still debated today! And yet given how much we all talk about it, it’s surprising that there is still a lot of confusion about what quality actually is.

Seth Godin, one of the most successful and prolific “bloggers” working in the media today, has an interesting take on the whole subject of quality which is worth sharing. 

Seth once posed the question: “Which is the higher quality car: a one-year old Honda Civic or a brand new top of the line Bentley?”

Although the answer might seem obvious, according to Seth there are at least two useful ways to describe quality and it is the conflict between them that leads to confusion…

Firstly ‘Quality of Design’: The thoughtfulness and processes that create ‘user delight’. In other words the factors that will lead someone to seek out a product, pay extra for it or recommend it to a friend. Secondly the ‘Quality of Manufacture’: In other words removing any variation in tolerances that a user will notice or care about.

At the time Seth was writing, and somewhat surprisingly, the quality of manufacture of the Civic was actually higher by traditional measures and standards. The manufacturing process applied to the Civic was more exact – and the likelihood that the car would perform (or not perform) in a way you wouldn’t expect was tiny. On the other hand, most people would probably agree that the design of the Bentley is more bespoke, luxurious and desirable. Fortunately, today, Bentley manufacture is also top quality which goes to show that there is always room for improvement!

Another example Seth raises is ‘manufacturing variation’. Fedex promises its clients overnight delivery. 10:20 versus 10:15 is not something the recipient usually cares about but tomorrow versus two days time they care about a lot. The goal of the manufacturing process isn’t to reach the perfection of infinity. Instead it’s to drive tolerances so hard that the consumer doesn’t care about the variation. So spending an extra million dollars to get five minutes faster isn’t as important to the Fedex brand as spending a million dollars to make their website more delightful.

Dropbox is a company that seem to have got both aspects right. The design of the service is so useful it now seems obvious. At the same time, though, and most critically, the manufacture of the service is to a very high tolerance. Great design in a backup service would be useless if one important file were corrupted.

According to Seth, Microsoft often struggle because sometimes they get both wrong. Software that has a user interface that can be a pain to use rarely leads to delight and irritating bugs represent significant manufacturing defects. Sometimes (and usually just before a presentation), the software doesn’t work as expected.

Quality ‘guru’ Deming defined quality as: (result of work effort) / (total costs) and unless a business understands both parts of that fraction they will have a hard time allocating resources. 

Put another way – it’s cheaper to design ‘marketing quality’ into the product than it is to advertise the product and it’s cheaper to design manufacturing quality into a factory than it is to inspect it after the product has already been built. 

According to Seth these principles go hand in hand.  As he so clearly puts it, “Don’t tell me about server uptime if your interface is lame or the attitude of the people answering the phone is obnoxious. Don’t promise me a brilliant new service if you’re unable to show up for the meeting. Don’t show me a boring manuscript with no typos in it, and don’t try to sell me a brilliant book so filled with errors that I’m too distracted to finish it.”

Some believe Seth’s ideas are too radical and as for me, I think the quality debate will continue for many years to come.
I wonder what Plato and Socrates would think?

During the last year at Certification International Bulgaria, we have seen many companies moving towards the integration of their existing management systems, particularly ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 27001:2005. This is a welcomed opportunity as Certification International has the ability to provide integrated audits covering quality and information security.

The process of integration usually leads to a reduction in audit time compared to the time required to carry out two separate audits and the organisation being audited only needs to arrange a single visit from Certification International personnel and auditors.

ISO 27001 can be integrated with an existing QMS (Quality Management System) or with a functioning ISMS (Information Security Management System). The questions that follow are “what are the similarities between ISO 9001 and ISO 27001?” and “what are the main requirements of the two standards which allow for integration?” The answers may help organisations prepare for integrated audits.

Both QMS and ISMS have similar sets of requirements. The theory developed by William Deming – an American statistician – provides the philosophy of all management systems based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. The ‘plan’ phase represents the process of designing a management system and planning what is needed to achieve it. The ‘do’ phase is the process of implementing the system and measuring its performance. The ‘check’ phase is the assessment of measurements and reporting results to decision makers. And the ‘act’ phase is where decisions are made depending on what needs changing for improvement. 

Although this cycle was invented for quality management, it was further established as the foundation for all other management systems including information security (ISO/IEC 27001), environment (ISO 14001), health and safety (OHSAS 18001) and business continuity (BS 25999-2).

Below are some of elements which are required for the implementation of both QMS and ISMS.

• Defining objectives and tracking whether they have been achieved. Although different objectives relating to quality compared to information security are expected to be defined by the organisation, the mechanism itself for defining and tracking them is similar.
• Document management. The general document management requirements for both QMS and ISMS are similar although there are some additional requirements relating to ISMS.
• Management review. The requirements for management review are similar for both management systems. Any experience in holding management reviews for quality or information security will be helpful for holding a management review of the integrated system.
• Internal audit. The same procedures can be used for both QMS and ISMS as the standards set the same general requirements for conducting internal audits.
• Corrective and preventive actions. The same procedures for corrective and preventive actions can be used both for QMS and ISMS.
• Human resources management. Although there are some additional requirements regarding information security issues, this part of the system also allows for integration.

In conclusion, we can summarise that if there is either a well functioning QMS or ISMS within the organisation, it will be easier to implement and integrate another standard into the already existing system. But when deciding to undertake an audit for a QMS or ISMS standard, companies should consider integrating the other from the start.

Contributed by: Zdravka Petrova

Parkway, Newbury, a new shopping and residential development in the heart of the West Berkshire town, has secured certification to ISO 14001:2004, the internationally recognised environment management standard. The standard was awarded by Certification International – a UKAS accredited organisation providing assessment, analysis and certification services to companies of all sizes across a wide range of standards.

Parkway is a 475,000 sq ft mixed-use development owned by Standard Life Investments and is managed by Jones Lang LaSalle. The certification demonstrates its commitment to reducing its environmental impact. Jones Lang LaSalle manages many retail centres across the UK, and Parkway is just one of many to achieve ISO 14001 certification. The company is working with Certification International to roll out environmental certification across a number of other sites.

Neil Carter, centre manager at Parkway, comments: “In line with the environmental policy set by managing agents Jones Lang LaSalle, Parkway has an overarching environmental statement which puts the environment at the heart of everything we do. All our policies and procedures take into account the centre’s impact on the environment and outline how we can reduce this. Newbury is an area liable to flooding which means we need to be vigilant to ensure our activities at Parkway do not affect the local habitat and wildlife. Certification to ISO 14001 demonstrates our commitment to managing Parkway in an environmentally responsible way, and sets the benchmark that we expect our staff, tenants, residents and visitors to achieve. The principal benefit is that everyone who comes into contact with us can see we take our environmental responsibilities seriously. It is also useful when managing our contractors and suppliers as they know the standards they need to maintain; many of our preferred contractors have been or are working towards certification and we continue to encourage them to do so. It is vitally important to have a strong environmental focus as protecting the environment is good for our customers, employees, contractors and residents.”

Certification International’s UK business manager Emma Fawcett-Jones comments: “By achieving certification for ISO 14001, the management team at Parkway Newbury clearly demonstrates they have a strong commitment to reducing the centre’s impact on the environment. The framework provided by ISO 14001 will allow them to monitor progress and further improve performance in this key area.”

Certification International, a leader in the field of assessment and certification services to internationally recognised standards, says figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)* show companies are taking health and safety seriously.

Certification International believes the ongoing falling trend in the number of people being injured or made unwell in the work place is due to organisations implementing occupational health and safety management systems and gaining certification to OHSAS 18001:2007 – a standard designed to clarify an organisation’s impact on health and safety issues.

Certification International is accredited by UKAS to assess companies to OHSAS 18001:2007 – the latest health and safety standard. The standard can be adopted by any organisation wishing to implement a formal procedure to reduce the risks associated with health and safety at work and aid legislative compliance. It is compatible with a number of other management systems including ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 27001 (information security).

Certification International’s managing director John Pymer says: “It’s good news that the number of people being injured or made ill at work is falling. But there is still a lot of work which can be done to reduce this further. The most effective way of doing this is by gaining certification to OHSAS 18001:2007. Having a formal health and safety system in place minimises the risk employees and outside parties may be exposed to. If employees feel safe in the environment they work in it can improve overall business performance. Achieving OHSAS 18001 also means businesses can be confident that their procedures meet the requirements of health and safety legislation. OHSAS 18001 is becoming increasingly important and some contracts stipulate organisations must have it as proof that they can carry out work safely and efficiently. If companies don’t have formal certification for health and safety, it is something they should look at to safeguard themselves and the safety of their employees.”

Certification International is a global organisation which provides assessment, analysis and certification services to companies of all sizes across a wide range of standards.

With greater emphasis being given to Business Continuity Management (BCM) systems, it is important for companies to identify potential incidents that threaten their organisation and put in place relevant systems which safeguard the interests of key stakeholders. This can easily be achieved through certification to SS 540:2008 and BS 25999. 

Certification International Singapore has provided auditing services to companies who wish to achieve certification to these standards since September 2010. It works with a network of experienced assessors, who have the required mix of industry knowledge and practical experience, to assist in providing assessment and certification based on SS540:2008 and BS 25999 standards.

Certification International Singapore continuously reviews and develops its professional knowledge and auditing techniques to equip it with the necessary skills for value-added auditing. This process ensures clients are in a strong position to develop and implement effective solutions which achieve real business benefits.

Being the first certification body to be accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) for SS540:2008, Dave Cheng was invited to a conference organised by SPRING Singapore, a governmental agency dedicated to the promotion of Singapore’s economic growth and productivity, to share the benefits of implementing BCM systems and achieving certification.

As part of its service to clients, Certification International Singapore organises a monthly free of charge preview on BCM to create awareness and support the implementation of relevant systems. Companies interested in registering for the preview should email certints@singnet.com.sg.