Future-Proof Solutions is pleased to announce the recent third-party certification of our HSEQ system to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and AS/NZS 4801:2001. We’re now fully ISO certified to quality, OHS and environmental management systems!
Our Director, Colin Harris, said that establishment and certification of the system reflected achievement of a long-held goal for FPS. “This was a key ambition for FPS from very early on. HSEQ is so important in our industry, but we also recognised the benefits that the three standards could have to our business,” he said. “We really wanted to take hold of those key benefits, while also showing our clients that they can trust us in relation to quality, OHS and environment.”
The project for becoming ISO certified was managed by our Consultant, Nathan Owen. With his extensive experience in quality, OHS and environment gained over many years in the trenchless, construction, and infrastructure industries, Nathan was the natural choice to take on this job. He said that first and foremost in the project, he knew what not to do. “HSEQMS has a bad reputation sometimes for being a lot of work, hassle and red tape, just to jump through some hoops and tick a box, but we didn’t want our system to be like that,” he said. “We wanted real benefits, real improvement to our business. So we focused on the spirit of the standards – they tell you what to do, but not how to do it, and we took our time to work out the ‘how’ that would work best for us. We’re really happy with the outcome – we have a system that is completely tailored and accurate to our business, with the aim of providing maximum compliance and benefits, but minimising extra work,” he said.
Nathan said the process was made easier by the existing arrangements already in place at FPS. “We’ve been living HSEQ right from the very start. So some key activities, like our weekly improvement meetings, were the perfect foundation for achieving some of the requirements,” he said. “Another example is our key values: they provided the perfect framework for setting our quality, OHS and environmental objectives,” he said.
With this head start, FPS was able to set up its formal HSEQ management system and become ISO certified in a relatively short period. “We were nervous going into our third-party audit with Equal Assurance – I think nerves are natural if you regard HSEQ with the respect it deserves – but we achieved certification first time without any nonconformances,” Nathan said.
Nathan said now that ISO certification has been achieved, the organisation is focusing on maintaining compliance and continuous improvement of the system. “We’re really happy with the system as it is, but continuous improvement is a key area of HSEQ. So moving forward, we’ll keep on improving the system, making efficiencies and making sure we maximise benefits for our clients and ourselves.”
View our HSEQ certificates and policies here
View us on the JAS-ANZ register here