Working to a higher standard

Wymondham-based mechanical engineering contractor Pruce Newman was recently awarded three new accreditations by leading compliance organisation DNV-GL to reflect the high standards of Quality, Safety and Environmental management within the business.

Pruce Newman, who specialise in industrial pipework fabrication and installation across the South and East of England, have been awarded certification to the following standards:

• ISO 9001:2015 – for Quality Management Systems
• ISO 14001:2015 – for Environmental Management Systems
• OHSAS  18001 – for Health and Safety Management Systems

The standards for Quality and Environmental Management have recently been updated, with a much greater emphasis on how companies are able to meet customer expectations, how they demonstrate engagement at all levels of the business, and a focus on risk-based thinking which enables improvements in efficiency.

Although many companies in the engineering construction industry hold accreditation to these ISO standards, current certification to the 2008 standards is only valid until September 2018, meaning that all businesses who want to maintain their accreditation will need to be able to prove that they can meet the stringent demands of the new assessment processes before this date. Pruce Newman are delighted that they have been able to achieve this ahead of time, with support from the entire team. The differences between the old and new standards have an impact across all parts of an organisation, and everyone at Pruce Newman had their part to play in enabling the business to achieve the new accreditation standards – as Tim Moorse, Pruce Newman’s Operations Director, commented:

“The changes in the 2015 standards required us to remodel certain sections of our procedures. This was achieved with a lot of excellent work by Keith Dixon, our Compliance Manager, and involved all areas of our business in their application to the changes. The commitment shown by everyone at Pruce Newman is ongoing as we seek to continually improve, and ‘live the standards’ to help us do this.”

The concept of “living the standards” is central to the new accreditation process, and this approach compliments Pruce Newman’s core values of Quality, Safety and Trust. As a second-generation family business, Pruce Newman has always worked hard to deliver outstanding projects with high levels of integrity, and the company has embraced a culture of continuous improvement which enables it to consistently develop its capabilities and its people to exceed customer demand. Even so, the business still faced challenges in meeting the new accreditation standards, and the selection of the right accreditation partner was central to ensuring Pruce Newman’s achievement.

Pruce Newman considered a number of potential partners before appointing DNV-GL at the culmination of a robust selection process, choosing to work with the UKAS-accredited provider due to their strong account planning, flexibility and support systems, which gave Pruce Newman confidence in the assessment process, and in their preparation for the transition to the new standards.

The updated certification was presented to Keith Dixon by Mark Clewley, DNV-GL Regional Business Development Manager, who said:

“Pruce Newman came to us wanting to work with an industry leader with UKAS accreditation. Through our partnership approach and Pruce Newman’s hard work, they have made great improvements through the process. By achieving certification to ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 14001: 2015 and OHSAS 18001 they are demonstrating their commitment to Quality, Environmental and Health and Safety”.

Pruce Newman’s hard work started well before they were audited to the new standards. Preparation to meet the 2015 standards for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 took four months to complete, starting with a review of the policy documents that demonstrated how Pruce Newman’s business functions met the requirements for each of the standards.  The company already had well-documented procedures for quality, environmental and health and safety management, however it was still necessary to revise a number of these, ensuring a demonstrable focus on the practical application of the procedures, and showing how those procedures provided a tangible benefit to the business or the customer.

This process also provided Pruce Newman with a good opportunity to revisit how appropriate its policies and procedures were, keeping only those which were relevant to the way in which the business currently operates; reflecting changes to the marketplace, improvements in capability, and continual evolutions in technology. What results is a concise set of policies which clearly define how Pruce Newman conducts its business, and which everyone in the business is able to buy in to.

The audit itself was conducted over an intensive 8 days, and required three DNV-GL auditors who conducted in-depth interviews at all levels of the business, thoroughly reviewed Pruce Newman’s documentation, visited Pruce Newman’s head office, workshops and client sites to ensure a true picture of the business, and who were pleased to recommend Pruce Newman for approval to all three standards at the end of the audit process.

This recognition of Pruce Newman’s business capabilities was cause for celebration, and Graham Newman, Pruce Newman’s Managing Director, was naturally pleased with the outcome:

“The gaining of the latest ISO 9001 and ISO14001 2015 certification, plus renewal of our OHSAS 18001:2007 certification with the assistance of DNV, has confirmed Pruce Newman’s commitment to driving the business’ Quality, Health and Safety and Environmental performances on to the next level.

The complete review of our systems and policies which was required by our upgrade to the very latest standards has confirmed that we are indeed able to meet the requirements of our customers in high quality, high safety and high service level markets such as the Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries, and provides our existing clients in other sectors with reassurance of our ability to continue to meet their needs in markets which are increasingly driven by compliance and regulation.”

As already mentioned, Pruce Newman is a company with a strong culture of continuous improvement and so the journey doesn’t stop with this triple accreditation. Even though he has just taken Pruce Newman through this challenging but rewarding process, Compliance Manager Keith Dixon is focussed on ensuring that the business leads the way as new standards come into force, and said:

“I’m delighted that we have achieved updated UKAS accredited certification for our management systems:  ISO 9001:2015 for Quality, ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental and OHSAS 18001: 2007 for Occupational Health and Safety.  Having been through the process to meet the requirements of the latest versions of the standards for Quality and Environmental, Pruce Newman are in an excellent position to meet the requirements of the latest health and safety standard, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety when it is published later in the year.”

To find our more about Pruce Newman and the services they offer, visit www.prucenewman.co.uk