May 1st, 2012
Having an effective health and safety system in place within a company is imperative no matter how large or small the company is. Health and safety systems not only save lives and reduce the risk of injury, but can also save your company from paying hefty fines if you are unable to comply to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
A recent example of obvious systemic failure is a manufacturing company based in London who have been fined a substantial amount for a catalogue of health and safety failings that have put their employees at risk.
The HSE gave this company a huge number of Notices between September 2010 and March 2011 which they failed to action. In the process they failed to abide by a whole series of health and safety regulations. The investigation by the HSE of the company, who manufacture, supply and install shop fronts, showed that they had failed to:
- provide suitable storage for highly flammable liquids
- check local exhaust ventilation systems
- protect workers from dangerous moving parts of machinery
- examine lifting equipment
- provide workers with the correct training for lifting equipment
Due to their failure to do all of the above, the company has been fined £18,000 and have been ordered to pay full costs of £6,210. Apart from the impact of this fine denting the company’s revenue there will surely be a longer term impact on the company’s reputation. If the company had only taken a structured approach to managing its health and safety in the first place it would have been able to recognise and abide by simple health and safety regulations.
The HSE inspector Saif Deen has said: “The seriousness of these breaches was reflected in nine Improvement Notices issued. HSE will not hesitate to take action against employers who shirk their responsibilities in this way.”
At IQMS, we provide the correct health and safety management systems training at a small cost in comparison to the life of an employee, fine issued from the HSE and overall disruption to the business.
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March 18th, 2011
The International Organisation for Standardisation, or ISO, has recently published a new standard in order to help small and medium sized enterprises to use a phased approach to implement an environmental management system.
The ISO is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards, with a network covering 160 countries and a central secretariat based in Switzerland which coordinates the system.
Implementing an environmental management system (EMS) into an SME can be a daunting task and, with customers increasingly taking into account environmental management performance when selecting suppliers and contractors, demonstrating your own environmental status has become a requirement.
With the use of ISO 14005:2010, EMS – Guidelines for the phased implementation of an environmental management system, the job will be made much easier. The purpose of this standard is to provide guidance for organisations on the phased development, implementation, maintenance and improvement of an environmental management system in order to meet the requirements of ISO 14001, which provides the requirements for an EMS.
IQMS offers a range of environmental courses, including the ISO 14001 Foundation. This course is perfect for decision makers and project managers in any company, regardless of knowledge level. The course is also tailored for employees who need to understand the fundamentals and practical implementation requirements of an effective Environmental Management System.
For more information on the Environmental courses available at IQMS, contact us today.
Tags: Environmental, Environmental Courses, Environmental Legislation Awareness, IQMS
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March 18th, 2011
The HSE has recently revealed a new set of injury and enforcement statistics for the food and drink manufacturing industry. This new report revealed a reduction in ‘over-3-day absence’ injuries but a rise in ‘major injuries’ when compared to the figures released in 2009.
The figures show a 3% decrease in injuries resulting on over 3-day absence, with numbers falling from 1197 in 2008/2009 to 1165 in 2009/2010. However, the number of major injuries was reported to have increased by 6% during the same period.
Despite the increase in major injuries, the independent watchdog for work-related health issues stated that fatal injuries have more than halved during the last 20 years and that the long-term trend shows a 31% reduction in the major injury rate since 1996.
In the ten year period from April 2000 to March 2010 there were 44 fatal accidents in the food and drink manufacturing industry. Machinery, workplace transport and falls accounted for more than 60% of that figure.
According to HSE’s statistics by industry, food and drink manufacturing still remains a relatively high-risk industry and suffers an injury rate 1.8 times higher than the UK manufacturing average.
For more information on these new statistics, visit the official HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk
Tags: Food Safety, Food Safety Courses, Food Safety Management, HSE, IQMS
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January 6th, 2011
It’s just been confirmed that IQMS will be delivering a 5 day Information Security Lead Auditor course in Dubai during February 2011.
The training programme is aimed at those who require an in-depth understanding of the ISO 27001:2005 and associated standards, and as with many IQMS courses, it’s intensive, challenging and highly interactive. It gives an appreciation of the importance of controlling Information Security in all types of business, as well as a detailed knowledge of ISO 27001:2005 Information Security Requirements and a strong understanding of the principal requirements for auditing Information Security Management Systems (ISMS).
The course has been designed not only to help delegates perform capable and value-adding quality audits, but also to develop their wider understanding of information security management systems design and implementation.
Click here if you’d like further information about the Information Security Lead Auditor course, or call us on 0870 870 8188.
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January 5th, 2011
As mentioned in a previous blog update, from January 2011 IQMS is set to deliver courses across the South West region of the UK, and the demand for such has just been confirmed as within hours of posting the new course dates we’ve already had a keen response!
The courses will cover quality, environment and health and safety topics and in particular some of the training on offer will be aimed at the region’s significant nuclear supply industry sector.
For further information on the range of courses we’ll be providing in the South West region, please click here or contact us directly on 0870 870 8188.
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December 20th, 2010
IQMS will be holding its annual Christmas party on Wednesday 22 December, and we’re expecting a great turnout for the occasion.
As well as welcoming people from across the UK, a representative from one of our partners in Greece (who we’ve worked with since 1994!) will be attending so we’re hoping it will be an extra special event.
On top of celebrating Christmas, we’re also looking forward to the New Year and so to mark 2011 we’ve produced a new IQMS desk calendar – if you’d like us to send you one, please contact our office (be quick though, they’re already proving to be very popular!).
We’d also like to take this opportunity to wish all of our colleagues and partners – past, present and future – a wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2011.
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December 13th, 2010
Following the success of our first course to be delivered in Trinidad during November, we’ve now been appointed by the Caribbean Institute for Quality to run a further two courses in January 2011.
Geoff Hill, Managing Director of IQMS, says: “We’re really pleased to be working with the Caribbean Institute for Quality again, and hope to progress this into a long-term relationship by developing local tutors over the next 3-6 months to deliver a regular program of our courses in Trinidad.”
The two courses to be delivered in Trinidad during January include the Health & Safety (OHSAS 18001) Lead Auditor Course, which will run for five days. The highly interactive course is ideal for those seeking to develop their professional auditing skills in planning, implementing and reporting effective audits in health and safety and provides an in-depth understanding of the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001:2007 model. The course is registered with the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA).
We’ll also be delivering the Health & Safety (OHSAS 18001) Internal Auditor course, which is also highly-interactive and runs for two days. The training programme focuses on the principles and techniques that are required to effectively audit health and safety systems, and is registered with the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA).
For more about our health and safety courses, click here.
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December 3rd, 2010
This week IQMS has delivered a series of short seminars to groups of SMEs in the North East region, on behalf of Business & Enterprise North East (BE-NE).
BE-NE is an independent private sector company that aims to deliver high standard business support services to help local businesses start, succeed and grow. It was initially formed in 2007 to replace four sub-regional Business Link organisations in the North of England and deliver the Business Link service across the region, and since then it has grown rapidly to now offer a diverse range of business support services in a number of economically crucial areas.
BE-NE appointed IQMS to deliver the series of seminars due to our excellent knowledge and training delivery experience in our region and beyond. The workshops focused on quality policies – a hugely important topic for SMEs in the North East that are looking to secure supplier contracts.
IQMS Managing Director Geoff Hill, who delivered the seminars, says: “While we enjoy delivering training across the World, we also gain tremendous satisfaction from supporting local businesses by equipping them with the information they need to progress as enterprises. The seminars went very well, and we look forward to working with BE-NE again in the future”.
For more information about our range of courses focusing on quality, click here.
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December 2nd, 2010
Our expertise and high quality courses have led us to deliver a great deal of training to the oil and gas industry on an international scale, and this month will see us providing our services to the sector in Algeria.
We have previously worked with the Algerian oil and gas industry, however this occasion will be the first time that we’ve travelled out to Algeria rather than deliver the training in the UK.
The training will include a combination of environmental and health and safety courses, which we specialise in, and will be delivered in the informative, interactive and appealing style that IQMS has built its solid reputation on.
We’re involved in numerous successful partnerships with high calibre training organisations across the World, and we’re keen to develop further mutually beneficial working relationships, so if you’d like to find out how our overseas partnership scheme works with a view to becoming an IQMS training partner please contact us for details.
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December 1st, 2010
From January 2011, IQMS is set to deliver a range of training courses across the South West region of the UK.
Alongside a range of public courses, we will also be running courses in association with Bridgwater College. The College, located in the heart of Somerset, has an excellent reputation both regionally and nationally as a highly successful provider of education and training and so we’re proud to be working directly with them.
As part of the training, we’ll be delivering a number of courses covering quality, environment and health and safety topics and in particular some of the training on offer will be aimed at the region’s significant nuclear supply industry sector.
For further information on the range of courses we provide, please browse through our website. Alternatively you can contact us directly on 0870 870 8188.
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