WCS are proud to announce that we have achieved Full UKAS Accreditation for the Certification of Environmental Management Systems under EA Code 28 – Construction.

WCS are now able to issue UKAS accredited certificates to clients operating within the construction industry from painters and decorators, gas engineers, electrical contractors, primary contractors, demolition contractors, asbestos removal and civil engineering.

This project has taken more than two years to complete and WCS would like to thank everyone from managers, auditors, technical experts and office staff for all their help in achieving accreditation.

For more information or if you are interested in EMS Certification please do not hesitate to contact WCS.

The document titled Requirements for Aviation, Space and Defense Quality Management Systems Certification Programs details the requirement above ISO 17021:2011 that World Certification Services and other Certification Bodies must meet.

The transition looks likely to exend to July 2013 for WCS to implement the changes and complete our ANAB assessment to the new standard.

Transition requirements are detailed in SR01 and SR02 available on the IAQG OASIS website.  https://www.sae.org/?PORTAL_CODE=IAQG

Futher information will be posted once we have formal correspondance from ANAB.

Do not hesitate to contact World Certification is you require any additional information.

Due to the continued international growth and success of WCS we are very excited about the addition of Paul Doherty to our team. Paul comes to us with a background in a variety of industries from Aerospace to Environmental Waste Recycling and has the responsibility of Certification Manager for our rapidly growing EMS and OHSAS certification programs. This is a reinforcing step in ensuring WCS continues to provide the highest level of customer service in the Certification Industry. This is an exciting time for WCS and we are glad to have Paul aboard

Paul is currently completing an extensive training programme with the aim for him to be fully operational early 2012.

Paul Doherty along with Operations Director Bill Slocombe.

The Department For Business Innovation and Skills recently posted an article on their website stating :

BSI would like to draw the attention of all UK organisations and companies to BIS policy document Conformity-assessment-accreditation-policy (PDF) on Accreditation and Conformity Assessment, and specifically to section 3.4 that reads:

“ 3.4 Application of the accreditation principles.

In applying these principles, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills:

- encourages Conformity Assessment Bodies to be accredited by the National Accreditation Body.

- encourages UK businesses, Government and local authorities requiring third party conformity assessment services to source such services, where they exist, from conformity assessment bodies accredited by a National Accreditation Body.”

BIS has further advised certification representative organisations in the UK:

“Accreditation” within the meaning of the Regulation can only be obtained (in the UK) from United Kingdom Accreditation Service by virtue of the Regulation.

Any organisation therefore that is suggesting it is accredited in the sense of the Regulation when they are not is likely to be guilty of an offence under the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (Statutory Instrument 2008/1276).

Certification Bodies or representative organisations should refer these cases to trading standards or the Office of Fair Trading in the first instance. 

Rest assured that World Certification Services Ltd are a UKAS Accredited Certification Body and high standards are maintained and monitored via annual compliance audits from UKAS.

Corrective Action  – in order for your response to be fully accepted It must include :

• A statement that the nonconformity has been corrected. (Your response needs to be written in the past tense.  i.e. the missing record was found, not will be found).
• Details of the extent of the problem,  ie. The results of your investigation to identify other examples that need to be corrected, and details of action taken to correct these examples
• If applicable, details and confirmation that all parties involved have been informed of the problem (internally affected parties, auditors, customers, etc)
• If correction cannot be undertaken immediately,  a plan to correct the NCR. This shall include Identification of responsible parties for the actions, a schedule (dates) for implementation
• Evidence that the correction was implemented or evidence that the plan is being implemented.

Root Cause of the Non-conformance  – in order to be fully accepted your response must identify the real root cause of the problem. You should therefore have asked how and why a situation or event occurred.  The following points should be noted : 

• Determine the direct cause along with a well thought out analysis to establish the true root cause. Someone not following a process would be direct cause; determining why someone did not follow a process would lead to the true root cause
• The Root Cause should not simply repeat the finding or the direct cause.
• The Root Cause should be a brief expression of fact that attempts to neither explain the situation away nor rationalize the condition.
• The root cause statement must focus on a single issue. If more than one cause is identified, for instance training and inadequate work instructions, then two corrective action plans must be submitted.
• If the true Root Cause has been determined there should not be any obvious “why” questions remaining

Action Taken to Prevent Recurrence of the NCR – in order to be fully accepted, your response must :

• Describe actions taken to addresses the root cause, or causes so as to prevent the problem occurring again. (eg. Provision of additional training, revised procedures, new methods/processes, increased inspection or auditing etc.)
• Include enough evidence is to show the plan has been/is being implemented, and if applicable, is on schedule.