T&M Bowser Solutions Receives ISO 45001

Horsham-based T&M Bowser Solutions received ISO 45001:2018 certification last month (November 2020)—on World Quality Day.

The manufacturer of custom-built bowsers (tankers) added the widely coveted standard to its ISO 9001, 14001 and BS OHSAS 18001 certificates, before the latter is replaced by 45001 next March. Fittingly, the new standard was achieved on a day, sponsored by Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) / International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), designed to recognise the contributions of quality professionals across the globe.

T&M received ISO 45001:2018 from third-party certification body Alcumus ISOQAR, having worked with external management consultant Courtney Franklin, director at Franklin Lawson Associates Ltd., to achieve conformity. The standard specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, and gives guidance for its use, to enable organisations to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, as well as by proactively improving its OH&S performance.

Terry Beasley, managing director at T&M, said: “Health and safety is part of our DNA. We are a leader in our industry for ensuring that safety meets the highest standards of quality. However, to achieve migration [to 45001] was a step-by-step journey; we mapped out a framework that guided us through the process and listened to competence-based advice. The temptation is always there to leave the transition and migration of standards until as late as possible, but we wanted to be a relatively early adopter. Achieving 45001 on World Quality Day wasn’t planned but it was the icing on the cake, and a great opportunity to shine the spotlight on our staff, while highlighting how quality can help to create a customer-focused organisation.”

Before advancing the application, T&M initiated a robust programme of awareness training sessions; risk-based internal audits; gap analysis; and an uninterrupted, top-down communication strategy.

Safe and healthy

Franklin simplified what will eventually be a triumphant ISO trifecta, saying 9001 allows the business to manage client expectations first-hand and helps it to continually improve and deliver real benefits to customers; 14001 allows it to see first-hand how managing environmental impacts helps to achieve a sustainable future and reassures stakeholders that best practice systems are in place; and 45001 demonstrates proactivity in the prevention of injury and ill-health whilst providing an environment that is safe and healthy.

He said: “My personal contribution was devoted to engaging and supporting management with their areas of responsibility. The client’s role was the formation of the internal group who kept the project on track. I have been working with Terry and his team for over two years, providing consultancy and in-house support by helping to put best practice into place throughout operations. I have seen them adopt risk-based thinking across the business and embrace a PDCA [plan-do-check-act] process approach in everything that they do.”

Beasley, who incorporated the company over 30 years ago, added: “It is all about creating customer value and products for customers—not the other way round. I have created custom-built bowsers designed to meet project needs and solve challenges across road, air, rail, construction and ground investigation work. I like to innovate as a means of making changes, introducing new methods, ideas or products and solutions as a means of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation. We have also developed systems to self-fill bowsers from static tanks, representing a time saving of two hours per vehicle, per day.”

T&M will be subject to first- (internal), second- (risk-based by Franklin Lawson Associates) and third-party (annually by Alcumus) audits. Franklin concluded: “Audits are key to any management system and its culture by adding value to the degree of awareness, commitment, collective attitude and behaviour. An immature management system is of no help to any business.”