HEJ reports on the journey taken recently by provider of specialist AE services, DRLC, to gain accreditation to the ISO 9001 process improvement, and the ISO 14001 environmental, standards, working with Richard Dolman, MD at Glade Consulting, whose specialist services include quality management system implementation and internal auditing.
DRLC is a family firm which supplies Authorising Engineering services to healthcare facilities. The company was formed in 2016 by managing, David Livingstone, and is run by he and his partner, Dr Louise Webb. Since founding the company in 2016 in Sheffield, the pair have increased DRLC's range of services from initial ventilation work to encompass fire safety and pressure systems, water safety, confined spaces, and medical gases. DRLC also carries out Design Review services on new and refurbished healthcare projects. Recently it has been engaged in steam and boiler house surveys, and the development of engineering drawings of these legacy facilities. Another growth area has been the provision of clerk of works services to healthcare building projects.
The company has grown from two Directors in 2017 to a team of over 15 full- and part-time staff and associates in 2024. Any company experiencing this type of rapid growth will experience teething problems, and DRLC was no exception. The company was keen to streamline its procedures and align what it was doing day to day with best practice. It was also keen to meet the NHS Shared Business Services' stringent requirements for acceptance onto the organisation's procurement framework.
David Livingstone said: "I saw that we needed to start working towards an International Standard. I think that we can develop our company to enable us to be successfully assessed for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. The ISO 9001 standard is a process improvement which will allow us to continually monitor, manage, and improve the quality of our services. We will use it as an effective business improvement tool to provide the guidance we need to enable us to consistently meet our clients' expectations and regulatory requirements."
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