Continuing with the theme of magnetic separation (see above), Bunting – which has two European manufacturing plants (at Berkhamsted and at Redditch, both in the UK) was due this spring for audits for a three-year re-accredited certification for Quality (ISO9001), Environment (ISO14001) and Health & Safety (ISO45001) at its Berkhamsted site and recertification for quality and new certification for environment and health & safety at Redditch.

Owing to the current coronavirus restrictions, Bunting’s quality and health & safety manager Denis Elkins was obliged to adopt a digital approach. Global certification body NQA conducted the remote audits of the Berkhamsted facility over four days, with another two days taken for Redditch.  NQA provides accredited certification, training, and support services to help improve processes, performance, and products and services. The detailed audits focused on three key areas:

•     Quality management systems (ISO9001:2015): this standard demonstrates Bunting’s ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements;
•     Environmental management (ISO14001:2015): this standard helps any organisation achieve the intended outcomes of its environmental management system, which provide value for the environment, the organisation itself and interested parties;
•     Health and safety (ISO45001:2018): this is an international standard for health and safety at work developed by national and international standards committees independent of government.

The audits at the Berkhamsted and Redditch facilities took place on two separate occasions between April and May 2020, with Elkins co-ordinating both audits from his home near Macclesfield.  Most people involved were operating remotely from home, with only limited personnel on site working within strict social distancing guidelines.  Supporting evidence of process performance was supplied using photographs and emailed documents.  After the two separate audits, Bunting achieved certification for all three standards on both its manufacturing sites, which are now certified under a multi-site registration.
www.mastermagnets.com
 

Denis Elkins, Bunting’s quality and health & safety manager, conducting the audit from his home
 

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