An Auditors perspective on he
development of an Integrated Management System
Stephen Fulwell
Independent Consultant
Note this talk replaced the
scheduled talk on Integrated Management Systems for a sustainable
Business.
Our guest speaker began by saying
he had been in health and safety as an Independent Consultant for
over 15 years having previously worked at IOSH as an employee and a
council member. During the talk he was able to draw upon his
background to make a difficult subject both interesting and
informative. He explained that an integrated management system is a
management system that integrates all of an organization's systems
and processes in to one complete framework, enabling an
organization to work as a single unit with unified objectives.
Unfortunately during the audit process many of the businesses which
think they have an integrated system find in reality they have
single systems which have been joined together.
The drivers for most businesses are
the criminal, civil and corporate aspects which are growing as each
year goes by. But using a risk based approach then businesses can
hope to draw a clear, holistic picture of all aspects of the
organization and how these affect each other. Stephen suggests
looking at the business risk profile as a good start in forming an
integrated system.
He then reviewed the common
elements which are linked into an integrated system using examples
from ISO 9001, ISO 14001, BSI 18001 and HSG 65. He also used
examples from his own experience to illustrate the process and
guide us through each document.
Culture was discussed in terms of
achieving it and loosing it and how auditing changed with the
culture of an organisation, the auditor spending more time
interviewing employees and less time on paper based systems. He
also discussed the difference in backgrounds had on the audit
process between Quality, Safety and Environmental specialists.
Finally Stephen reiterated how an
integrated management system can enable a business to create one
structure to deliver an organization's objectives. These objectives
being as diverse as managing employees' needs, to monitoring
competitors' activities, to encouraging best practice in risks
control to maximizing resources.
Following on from some interesting
question we thanked Stephen in the usual manner. District Members
can download Stephens
presentation (368kb).
District business
The night was a joint meeting with
our Manchester Branch and we were advised on the Heath and Wellbeing meeting on Tuesday 22nd
November 2011 at Brookfield Masonic Hall nr Bolton BL5 3SP and that
booking must be made via John Westmoreland on +44 (0) 1524 822072
10:00 until 20:00 Monday to Friday.
Finally our last meeting of the
year is on 12th December 2011 and is on Employment Law with the speaker starting at
19:30 and those who need their IPD or CPD then at 18:30 in the
Computer room. We look forward to seeing you on the night.
Philip Gallimore
Media Officer