Construction Giant Graham Maintain Internationally Recognised Quality and Environmental Certification

Construction Giant Graham Maintain Internationally Recognised Quality and Environmental Certification

Posted by:caragh.oneill
Latest news

Construction giant, Graham, working across the UK and Headquartered in Hillsborough, NI, have successfully updated their ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental) management systems to meet the requirements of the latest versions of the standards, with the assistance of Quadra. The company works on building, civil engineering and fit-out projects for both public and private sector clients across the UK and Ireland and is set to hit a record £565m worth of turnover for the group.

Organisations currently certificated against the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 standards have until September 2018 to ensure that their systems are updated to meet the requirements of the new versions of the standards. However, many of the major Certification Bodies are working towards a June 2018 deadline meaning that some organisations with certification have only 3 months to comply. By transitioning at an early stage Graham Construction has avoided the risk of losing certification and has avoided potential additional costs associated with last minute transition audits.

The organisation’s continued certification demonstrates that it is committed to the principles of the revised standards which include; proactive risk management, a commitment to continual improvement and the development and implementation of streamlined and efficient processes.

The ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications complement the existing OHSAS 18001 certification (Health and Safety Management) and ISO 27001 (Information Security Management). In addition, Graham Construction is currently seeking certification to other standards such as ISO 44001 (Collaborative Business Relationship Management) and ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management). With the publication of ISO 45001, which will replace OHSAS 18001, due to be published in March 2018, the Graham Construction team have already taken positive steps towards understanding the requirements of the updated health and safety standard by engaging Quadra to deliver focused, bespoke staff training covering the main differences between the old and new standards.

Graham Construction is currently working on more than 100 projects, with over 1,300 employees, and the process of fully updating the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 systems was undertaken across a 12-month period. This meant that the project could be evenly distributed over time and balanced with other ongoing projects.

The expert IMS team at Graham, coupled with the support, guidance and expertise of the Quadra consultants meant that the transition project was well resourced and did not lack technical ability. Graham’s proactive approach meant that the company was already addressing some of the requirements of the revised ISO standards. The biggest challenge faced by the IMS team during the project was the co-ordination of the changes across all departments.

To overcome this challenge, the IMS team, with the support of Quadra utilized a lean project management tool called, ‘Last Planner’, which is commonly used in construction and engineering projects. The Graham team used the transition project as a vehicle to pilot the ‘Last Planner’ tool and following this success they are now using it within various construction projects.

Ongoing communication was a vital component in ensuring the success of the project, and to ensure cohesion and understanding across all departments. This was done through weekly team meetings held by the IMS team with heads of departments who then cascaded the information down to the members of their respective teams. The IMS team encouraged departmental ownership of the updated systems by reinforcing the idea that they were the facilitators of the project but ultimately the department heads and their staff were the drivers.

The next step in the Management Systems journey for Graham is gaining certification for the ISO 22301 system as well as transitioning to the updated Health and Safety Management System ISO 45001, and we are excited to embark on this collaborative journey with the team!

For all enquiries, or for further information on updating your organisation’s ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or ISO 45001 systems please do not hesitate to get in touch today on:
028 9042 3222
01 832 1493
[email protected]

Related Articles

The International Organisation for Standardisation 2022 survey results have just been...
ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems (EMS)...