ISO9001 - Quality Management Systems

Penarth Management has been working with interior and exterior landscaping companies for several years. Most of our work historically revolved around assisting with the implementation of a Quality Management System to meet the requirements of ISO9001. Much of that work was driven by the need to meet minimum standards when pursuing specific tender opportunities, particularly with large or public sector organisations.

For most landscaping companies, the plan-do-check-act process is reasonably straight forward. When helping to produce procedures we work with you to identify every part of the process; from who your clients are; how you receive enquiries, quote for work and convert those into sales orders; the associated scheduling of work and the procurement of any associated supplies such as plant specimens or landscaping materials. We help to ensure that there is an effective means of communicating details of the work to be undertaken and of checking that the finished work is delivered to a satisfactory standard.

No matter how well defined your processes may be, ISO9001 recognises that things will still go wrong, and makes provision for dealing with problems. (Ordinarily, this is where most companies are good at responding to the immediate issue, but are less effective at recording the details of problems; whether they relate to supplies delivering diseased or wilting plants; late deliveries or even a customer complaint relating to the workmanship on site.) We understand that it will take time to change this habit, and are accustomed to working with staff to implement simple, workable solutions that will be of real benefit.

Having documented the system we carry out a round of internal audits and report the findings to the management team who set improvement action plans based on that factual information.

ISO14001 - Environmental Management Systems

Over time, there has been a growing demand for landscapers to demonstrate compliance to the Environmental Management Standard, ISO14001. For companies with an existing ISO9001 Quality Management System, it can be quite straight forward to extend it to incorporate the additional requirements of the environmental management Standard once some fundamental issues are understood.

Initially, there is a requirement to understand how the company impacts on the environment and for this information to be captured in a 'Register of Environmental Aspects'. Topics that are typically considered for landscaping companies include waste, transport, use of pesticides, use of raw materials (such as compost). Other topics will be included, but each company is considered on an individual basis to ensure that all relevant issues have been taken into account.

Once we understand the impact that a company has on the environment, we can consider what legislation may be relevant. This will result in the production of a 'Register of Legislation and Other Requirements'. As part of the implementation (and indeed ongoing maintenance of ISO14001), it will be necessary to undertake an evaluation of legal compliance.

Having understood the aspects and relevant legislation, it is then possible to identify the control measures that may be required. Common issues for landscapers includes obtaining duty of care waste transfer notes; correct storage of fuel and other hazardous substances (including pesticides); and purchasing of supplies.

The requirements for the documentation of procedures; internal audits; and management review meetings are similar to those for ISO9001 as detailed above.

OHSAS18001 - Health and Safety

Landscapers are becoming increasing aware of the need to demonstrate that they have effective Health and Safety Management Systems and are often required to comply to a range of schemes including CHAS, Constructionline and Achillies. For many companies that haven't developed a robust health and safety system, this can prove to be a chore as people are often not sure where to find the evidence of completed risk assessments, training records or relevant insurances.

One way to ensure that such documentation is systematically stored is to implement a formal Health and Safety Management system to meet the requirements of OHSAS18001. This Standard is practically identical in structure to ISO14001 and lends itself well to being integrated into an existing system (or can indeed be implemented simultaneously). The main difference between ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 is that where the former requires the production of a Register of Environmental Aspects, the latter requires evidence of formal hazard identification, risk assessment and control. In helping companies to develop this essential part of a Health and Safety Management System we are able to provide risk assessment training using landscaping based examples that take into account a wide range of appropriate hazards such as manual handling that may arise when loading or offloading vehicles, or transporting bags of cement; noise exposure from mowers, strimmers, chainsaws etc; exposure to hazardous substances - and more. Again, we prefer to ensure that the examples we provide are as relevant to our audience as possible; so you will find that we like to understand as much as we can about the types of hazards that are relevant to your specific activities.

NHSS18

Many landscapers work alongside the highways which are recognised as being extremely hazardous working environments owing to the high speed of traffic flowing in lanes adjacent to the landscape operatives at work. In recognition of the specific hazards posed by such carriageways, the Highways Agency has introduced a series of National Highways Sector Schemes (NHSS). Of the schemes introduced, NHSS18 For the Environment and Landscape Including Ecology is of most interest to landscapers.

Since May 2009, there has been a requirement that any landscaper carrying out work on the highways should be accredited to NHSS18 which is essentially a Quality Management Standard based on the requirements of ISO9001, but with additional requirements that link to environmental issues (e.g. planting schemes, pesticide training requirements etc) and health and safety (e.g. the need for comprehensive risk assessments).

We have experience of assisting with the implementation of NHSS18, and can build this into an existing management system, or start from scratch if necessary.

FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody

Within the landscaping industry there is a growing demand for timber products such as decking, fencing or garden furniture to be sourced from sustainably managed forests. Some clients may be satisfied with knowing that the materials or products they are purchasing carry the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) logos. However, for those landscapers working on behalf of major house builders or other large organisations, there is a growing demand to demonstrate full Chain of Custody.

Though evidence of formal FSC or PEFC systems is generally required to demonstrate that timber products have been sourced ethically, with minimal impact on the environment, a Chain of Custody system is fundamentally one of quality control. Specific examples of the controls required include ensuring that suppliers are aware of the need to supply FSC or PEFC branded products; management of incoming raw materials; stock control; proper labelling and proper documentation control (including invoicing and even the correct use of the logos).

Training

There is an ever growing demand to demonstrate that staff are competent. Within the landbased sector there is industry specific ROLO health and safety qualification which is now a mandatory requirement for anyone working on NHSS18projects. We are approved to deliver ROLO training courses. Contact training@penarth.co.uk for more details.

BALI

Having worked with so many landscapers over the years, we are proud to have become affiliate members of the British Association of Landscaping Industries (BALI) in 2010.

We are committed to supporting the landscaping industry and have contributed to the Landscape News. With kind permission from BALI, copies of our published articles are shown below:

Contact us

To find out how Penarth Management may be able to assist your landscaping business contact us at bali@penarth.co.uk or give us a call on 029 2070 3328.

Come and visit us on Stand T49