The ISO Show

How often have you heard someone say they aspire to be an ISO consultant? Likely not at all! That's not surprising as it's quite a niche world to find yourself in, yet despite that, there are still thousands of ISO professionals worldwide. We're continuing with our mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Steve Mason, a Principle isologist® at Blackmores, to share the journey of how he went from intern, to ISO Assessor, to ISO consultant and the challenges he's faced while working with clients. You'll learn · What is Steve's role at Blackmores? · What does Steve enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Steve take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge he's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Steve's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub · ISO 14001:2026 What's Changed And How to Comply Webinar Registration In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – We introduce Steve Mason, a Principle Isologist® here at Blackmores, to discuss his journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27018, ISO 27017 and ISO 20000-1. [02:40] What is Steve's role at Blackmores? Her role primarily involves supporting clients in two key areas: maintaining and continually improving their existing ISO management systems and helping them establish and implement new standards. As part of that support, he: · Makes Standards understandable and accessible to clients · Conduct internal audits · Reviews and updates management system documentation · Facilitate management reviews · Train internal teams and prepare them for certification audits. Steve is the Standard champion for ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018 and ISO 20000-1 at Blackmores, but he also deals with ISO 9001, ISO 41001, ISO 22301 and ISO 42001 related projects and support. Steve's other main role at Blackmore's is as a Mental Health First Aider, which is shared with Minoo Agarwal. Together, they provide resources and offer support to the team. [06:00] The importance of Mental Health management in the workplace: Steve had faced bullying in previous roles, so preventing others from experiencing the same had become a big motivator for him taking on the role of Mental First Aider for Blackmores. He emphasizes it's importance, and highlights 2 key Standards that you can use to help support mental first aid within your business. This includes ISO 45003 Mental Health in the Workplace and BS 30480 Suicide and the Workplace. [09:10] What does Steve enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Steve has a wide variety of interests and hobbies, including: Lay Minister: Steve is a Lay Minister in the United Reform Church and mainly based at the URC Chapel in Walkern, but can be found leading worship and preaching at Ashwell, Baldock, Stevenage and Knebworth chapels. Poetry: Steve enjoys writing poetry about anything and everything, racking up an impressive 190 poems so far. Some of his main inspirations include Wordsworth and Keats. If you ever see a poem on the Blackmores LinkedIn page, odds are, it was written by Steve! Classical Music: He's a fan of classical music, anything by Beethoven, Mahler or Shostakovich specifically. He likes these composers in particular due to their stretching of the rules of music for the time. Exploring hidden London: Steve often goes on hidden London tours which explore disused underground stations which may have been shut down as long as 100 years ago! Buses and Trains: Steve was lucky enough to drive a bus in his past, of which he has the licence plate of sitting in his office. He collects bus and train models and will go out to snap a photo or two of their real world counterparts when he comes across them. History: Steve is a huge mystery buff, with a particular fondness for Richard III and the War of the Roses and the Anglo Saxon period of history. Family Tree: Steve has been tracing his family tree back as far as he can on his mother's side, which extends as far back as 1547! Interestingly enough he found out that relatives from way back then got married in the church that he currently lives nearby and got qualified as a Lay Minister for the Church of England in Stevenage! Cats: He's owned his fair share of feline friends through the years, with one particular tabby holding the name 'Spartacus'. [22:35] What was Steve's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Steve was once told in the 1980s 'There is no future in Standards; find another career, perhaps in Sales or Purchasing'. How wrong that turned out to be! He's always worked with standards, from the first day he started work doing inspection in Goods Inwards, he was referring to them. The direction towards Management systems came in 1983 when he started implementing BS 5750. From that day onward he had been involved in Management Systems. Steve completed a management apprenticeship at Racal-Guardall where he was able to do 3 months' work experience in all departments, which helped him appreciate how companies function and how important it is to maintain good communication channels. He was at the end of this apprenticeship that the opportunity arose in the QA department to work on BS 5750. His career path has included other organisations such as Tektronix, BOC Ohmeda, Cirkit, Deta, TDK and BSI, all of which earned Steve a lot of experience in Manufacturing and Service and Distribution, mainly in Quality and Customer Service roles. Steve has always felt a bit like a closet consultant, even when he worked as an assessor at BSI. He feels as if Blackmores has enabled him to fully flourish and develop his portfolio of standards – not bad for a career where there was apparently no future in standards! [28:45] Born to be a consultant – Steve mentions that consultancy is a skill that many are born to be. You can train and learn the skills of course, but for some it comes very naturally and it can be hard to replicate that skillset in others. [30:15] What is Steve's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? Steve loves talking with clients and working with them to explore solutions that can address the requirements of the standards. His motto is 'Mould the Standard to the organisation and not the organisation to the standard' This means, always producing a management system that benefits the organisation first and then adjusting it to meet the requirements of the standard. Organisations that mould the business to the standard usually end up with a management system that is a 'bolt-on' and an uncomfortable, sometimes irrelevant, fit. Everyone in the organisation needs to feel that the management system is a natural fit to what they do. He also enjoys supporting his colleagues at Blackmores. We're a business built on knowledge sharing, and there's no point gatekeeping anything we've learned as a team. So consultants often get together to discuss lessons learned and ensure best practice is a shared experience. Ironically enough, one of Steve's least favourite aspects of being a consultant is auditing! Mostly since he's been doing it for some 40 years now, so he can be forgiven for finding the exercise a bit tedious at times. However, he never let's that affect the end result of an audit. [37:00] What Standards does Steve specilaise in and why? Steve initially started with ISO 9001 but was steered towards ISO 27001 and ISO 20000-1 during his time as BSI. This was based upon his career path up to the point he joined BSI as they align assessors to familiar business and technical environments. In Blackmores, he has been able to develop these areas of Quality, Service and Risk by adding standards related to Business Continuity, PII and Cloud Security, Facilities Management and AI Management. Steve's favourite standard is ISO 20000-1 which started off as an IT Service Management System but can also be used effectively for all services. He always refers to ISO 20000-1 as 'ISO 9001 on Steroids' because it is much more specific and focuses on the subject of service management. Sadly, ISO20000-1 is under rated, under sold and in some cases, never heard of – this is usually because contracts require IS O9001 but the people writing those contracts don't actually know or understand what they are asking for. In simple terms it is a Service Quality Management System and Steve has come across organisations which have shoe-horned ISO 9001 into the business instead of using the natural fitting standard ISO 20000-1. Steve would advise any company that is providing a service with helpdesk support to look at ISO 20000-1, especially if they find that ISO 9001 isn't working well for them. [43:00] What is the biggest challenge Steve had faced during a project and how did he overcome it?: Creating a management system in 10 days for a client which was due to lose a major contract because they had let their certification to ISO 9001 lapse between the 2008 and 2015 versions. Quite the undertaking in such a short amount of time! Steve refuses to claim full responsibility for the success however, as the client was totally invested in getting the system up and running and put in a lot of effort to work with Steve to get it done in time. If it had been any other standard, it would have been impossible, but because it was ISO 9001 and wthey were drawing on what had been in place previously it was possible. Generally, problems arise when there is limited or no Leadership support and commitment, because without this management systems can't be set up in a way that benefits the organisation. All management systems must align with the Business Strategy and should be used to ensure that the strategy is achieved. If you'd like to learn more about the importance of Leadership and aligning your management system with strategic direction, check out a few of our previous episodes. [50:10] What is Steve's proudest achievement? Steve isn't really one to collect achievements, so he cites winning 1st Prize at 6 years old in a fancy-dress competition, dressed as a Snowman was a proud achievement for 6 year old him. He is also proud of becoming a Lay Reader initially in the Church of England at 37 and latterly in the URC. Another highlight is appearing on The Chase back in 2017, successfully passing the auditions which saw 40,000 applicants. If you want to go see him go up against the Chasers, he was in Series 10 episode 119. He can't point to any one ISO related project as he sees them all as an equal success. He puts all his effort into every project, and his success track shows this to be evident. [54:35] ISO 14001 Transition Webinar: If you currently hold a 2015 certificate for ISO 14001, then the countdown has already started to transition to the latest 2026 version. We'll be covering the changes and what you need to do to comply and complete your transition in a webinar on the 29th May. You can register your place here. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Most ISO Standards take what's known as a 'risk-based approach', which focuses on proactively identifying and mitigating potential risks while capitalising on opportunities. The methods for managing risk can be very varied, and many make the mistake of treating it as a separate task rather than as an integrated part of your existing processes. In this episode, Ian Battersby explains what risk management means in regard to ISO management, what this looks like in practice and breaks down different methods you can utilise for effective risk management. You'll learn · What is risk? · Where is risk referenced in ISO Standards? · How do you identify risks and opportunities? · How can you document risks and opportunities? · What does a Risk Register look like? · How are risks categorised? · How many risks should you document? · How do you evaluate and rate risks? · How do you address opportunities? · How can ISO 31000 help? · How different ISO Standards define their relevant risks · Governance and risk management Resources · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Ian dives into the topic of risk management within in ISO. Explaining what risk is, how they should be documented and evaluated and what methods you can use to do so. [02:45] Further info on risk management: If you want more guidance there is a dedicated risk management Standard (ISO 31000). [03:10] What is risk? Risk, as defined by ISO Standards is: "An effect of uncertainty on objective. An effect is a deviation from the expected. It can be positive, negative or both, and can address, create or result in opportunities and threats" So important to note that this includes both risks and opportunities. [03:40] Where is risk referenced in ISO Standards? The main risk related requirements can be found in Clause 6 Planning for most ISO Standards: 6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities - There's a positive and a negative aspect mentioned right from the start. However, these elements aren't relegated to a few clauses. ISO Standards are built on a 'risk-based approach', which is directly mentioned within the introduction: "This International Standard employs the process approach, which incorporates the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle and risk-based thinking Risk-based thinking enables an organization to determine the factors that could cause its processes and its management system to deviate from the planned results, to put in place preventive controls to minimize negative effects and to make maximum use of opportunities as they arise." While it is prescriptive, it does allow flexibility for businesses to determine what risks are significant to them. Other places it's mentioned in Standards includes Leadership: "Top management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment by: d) promoting the use of the process approach and risk-based thinking" It's not just about adopting the risk-based approach, leaders have to promote it. The use of the word 'shall' indicates that this is not optional and cannot be delegated. [08:10] How do you identify risks and opportunities? The Planning clause directly references clause 4, which is Context of the organisation. Within that clause, businesses are required to think about the things which affect the way you operate, the world in which you work, the people and organizations you must consider, the obligations placed upon you. One key activity that typically happens at that stage is a SWOT and PESTLE, that's not specified by the Standard but it's a very popular method of identifying your risks and opportunities against multiple areas. The results of which can be fed back into Clause 6 Planning when it asks you to consider and do the following:- · Give assurance that the system can achieve its intended result(s); · Enhance desirable effects; · Prevent, or reduce, undesired effects; · Achieve improvement. · Plan actions to address these risks and opportunities; · Integrate and implement the actions into its system processes; · Evaluate the effectiveness of these actions. This is where you have the freedom to determine what significant risk means to your business. This also establishes the approach to risk management as proactive rather than reactive. [13:15] How can you document risks and opportunities? Just because you need to determine risks, you don't necessarily need a risk management process or methodology based on the guidance in a standard like ISO 31000. There's no requirement to even have a risk register! However, we do strongly recommend using one. If you choose not to use one, you could document each risk individually with the plan of action to mitigate it. This is fine, but a register allows you to see what's happening across all risks. It allows comparison of different types, different categories, across different parts of the organisation, at different levels. It can support decision making and allocation of resource where there's competition for that resource. It can prompt escalation and more significant management attention where it's needed. It can also form a basis for reviewing the effectiveness of your processes. So, while not a firm requirement, it can be a very useful tool. [15:20] What does a Risk Register look like?: A typical Risk Register usually sits in a table or Excel document. You can number your SWOT and PESTLE findings and put them into this Risk Register. One of the columns included is interested parties affected by it, e.g. the risk that your processes deliver the wrong product directly relates to your customers; the risk of enforcement may relate to your board; the risk of terrible PR may affect your investors; the risk of polluting may affect the local population, enforcement agencies etc Certain standards also require you to determine compliance obligations associated with each interested party, so that may be useful to add as a column. Then, you need a column for detailing what the impact of the issue is (remember, both positive and negative). Then you need to evaluate each entry, this involves measuring the significance, the size and scale. When evaluating risks, you need to indicate which processes you have in place that control the risk. Then you need to rate the risks in their current (do-nothing) form. This is where it helps to have a register where different types and categories can be judged alongside each other, so you'll be able to see what's really important in one place. An organisation needs to decide what level of risk it's prepared to accept; this may be a straightforward decision where a specific value triggers escalation and action, but it may be more complex, depending on the organisation you are in and the environment in which you operate. If the risk is acceptable, should you still commit resource to addressing it; there's a balance in reducing risk overall; is it an easy win? Is it easy to do? If you feel you should address a risk, what method of risk treatment should you adopt? The actions you propose to take should then be set out in proper detail: who will do what by when? What resource? Basically detailing the measures to assess effectiveness. If a risk or a group of associated risks require an objective, state clearly and link to that objective. [21:35] How are risks categorised? The types of risks you will be focused on will depend on the ISO Standard you're implementing. For example, for ISO 9001 this will be the ability to consistently deliver the best we can to our customers. For ISO 45001 the ultimate aim is to protect your workforce from harm. Regardless, you can get quite broad with the nature of your risks, including considerations such as the ability to fund right equipment and infrastructure; or any investment in a sustainable future; the competence of personnel; the safe working environment to deliver products/services; compliance with relevant legislation; forces affecting our market; stability of supply chains; reputation; social attitudes to work, technology etc But, regardless of whether you're certified to a multitude of standards, operations are typically so interdependent that you can't separate financial risks from operational ones etc. [23:55] How many risks should you document? It's easy to get overwhelmed by generating a huge register when you're a small organisation, but you should be realistic. Focus on what's really significant. If you do a SWOT/PESTLE, if it generates lots of issues but not everything has to be treated as a risk and opportunity for the risk register. First, ask yourself, what will actually have an impact on you if it materialises? What is beyond control or influence? What requires just monitoring? A larger organisation will tend to generate a larger register, but this can be categorised in different ways: · Split by functions · Split by category (operational, safety, compliance, financial) · Significance; operational vs strategic or corporate · This can be done by the scale of the risk, any risk above a specific threshold could be escalated to the strategic level · There could be factors in the risk evaluation which include strategic significance · There could be specific subjects (eg, compliance) which you automatically escalate to a strategic level [25:55] How do you evaluate and rate risks? There are lots of complex and sophisticated ways of doing this. Certain sectors, industries, processes have specific needs and ways of evaluating risk. But, if you're new to this, or there aren't such complexities to consider, a very simple methodology is best. Keep to a simple matrix of consequences and likelihood. Consider what the impact would be if the risk materialised, and rate these from 1 to 5: 1 = the consequences are not significant, it would only be a slight impact on the organisation, minor disruption, small financial loss, little/no physical harm. 5 = the consequences are disastrous, it could materially affect the way the organisation operates, it could cause serious physical harm, it could lead to severe financial loss, it could totally prevent us delivering our products/services. Now consider the likelihood of the event occurring, again rating these from 1 to 5 That could be qualitative evaluation: · 1 = very rarely · 5 = happens regularly, or it's certain to happen OR, it could be more quantitative · 1= once in ten/five years · 5 = daily/weekly Then multiply these numbers and plot them on a matrix. The matrix will then provide a visual heat map that indicates the level of risk and inform about the level of resource you should apply to addressing the risk. [29:15] How do you address opportunities? You can also evaluate opportunities in a similar manner. Rather than assessing negative consequences, you consider the positive impacts on the organisation when an event occurs. These are plotted in the same way on a matrix, but with appetite and tolerance rather than consequences and likelihood. Risk appetite can be defined as 'the amount and type of risk that an organisation is willing to take in order to meet their strategic objectives'. These appetites range from averse, cautious to an open, eager appetite. For example, a public sector risk appetite example could a local council adopting a "cautious" approach to financial management while having an "open" appetite for innovation in digital service delivery. This balances the need for fiscal responsibility with the desire for improved efficiency, often accepting higher risks for long-term environmental or social gains. Risk tolerance is the actual threshold that you can get away with, that your organisation can bear before action / escalation is needed; financial, operational, reputational, enforcement. This concept may not be for you if you're at an early stage of development, but one to keep in mind. [32:00] How can ISO 31000 help? If we feel we should address a risk, what method of risk treatment should we adopt? ISO 31000 Risk Management Guidance suggestions include: · Avoiding the risk by deciding not to start or continue with the activity that gives rise to the risk; · Taking or increasing the risk in order to pursue an opportunity; · Removing the risk source; · Changing the likelihood; · Changing the consequences; · Sharing the risk (e.g. through contracts, buying insurance); · Retaining the risk by informed decision (no influence, cost too great) [33:40] How different ISO Standards define their relevant risks: ISO 45001 states: "The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a process(es) to: a) assess OH&S risks from the identified hazards, while taking into account the effectiveness of existing controls; b) determine and assess the other risks related to the establishment, implementation, operation and maintenance of the OH&S management system" ISO 22301 Business Continuity states: "The organization shall implement and maintain a risk assessment process. The organization shall: a) identify the risks of disruption to the organization's prioritized activities and to their required resources; b) analyse and evaluate the identified risks; c) determine which risks require treatment." Be careful not to confuse these types of risk with organisational, system risks. [36:05] Governance and risk management: A Risk Register is not a static document. It need to be reported on regularly, such as during Management Review meetings. The register itself isn't evidence of good risk management. It's how you use it to demonstrate that your actions have addressed risks and opportunities which counts. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Watch the video interview here Europe is only partially on track to meet its 2030 environment and sustainability objectives, and while some objectives are being scaled back, we are seeing the introduction of more regional regulations that require tangible annual sustainability reporting. Businesses that have built sustainability into their way of working from the start are leading the charge and defining what it means to operate responsibly. As with today's guest, Forest, an e-bike provider that is not only 100% powered by renewable energy but has also achieved the coveted B Corp Accreditation. In this episode, Mel Blackmore is joined by Laura Elms, VP of Sustainability & Corporate Affairs at Forest, to discuss how they embedded sustainability from the start and explore their journey towards B Corp Accreditation. You'll learn · Who are Forest? · Who is Laura? · Why was B Corp important to Forest from the start? · What other Standards do Forest currently hold? · What does Forest's higher B Corp score of 99 mean in reality? · How did Forest embed sustainability into a business from day one rather than retrofitting it later? · How has Forest balanced growth with genuine environmental accountability? · What does tackling Scope 3 look like in urban mobility? · Why did they also attain Verra Validation, and why does third-party validation matter? · How do sustainability, communications and public policy intersect in Laura's role? · Advice for those seeking B Corp Accreditation · B Corp Version 7 · What role do you think sustainable transport should play in helping cities to meet their net zero targets? Resources · Forest · B Corp Accreditation · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Episode Summary – Mel is joined by Laura Elms, VP of Sustainability & Corporate Affairs at Forest, to explore how they lead the way in sustainability including insight into their journey towards B Corp Accreditation. [01:10] Who are Forest? Forest is the only shared E-Bike operator to power its entire fleet with 100% renewable energy. It's also one of the world's first micro-mobility companies to have B Corp Accreditation and Verra Validation. [01:40] Who is Laura and how did she get involved with sustainability? Laura admits that she had a rather non-linear approach to getting into sustainability. She started her career shortly after graduating in financial communications and investor relations. Working in her first firm, she worked closely with a women called Caroline who went on to found Forest along with two other co-founders. Caroline reached out to her 2 years after starting Forest and Laura felt it was a no-brainer as she had a pre-existing interest in sustainability, and had come to prefer the start-up space over a more corporate setting. As is typical with the nature of start-ups, Laura wore many hats from the outset as it was a small team of four. Sustainability was what she was most passionate about, and has been the area she nurtured for Forest over the course of her six years working with them. [03:40] Why was B Corp important to Forest from the start? Laura noticed that B Corp was gaining traction back when Forest started in 2020. She was curious about the intersection between B Corp and ESG, particularly from a start-up perspective. When starting at Forest, she knew it would be a significant benefit to utilise renewable energy, but she felt like they needed to go above and beyond that. From there she researched B Corp and the costs involved, which were affordable as it's relative to your revenue, which is a great advantage to start-ups. She was pleased to find that Forest could cover the 5 pillars of B Corp's credentials, not only providing bikes for urban settings but also providing excellent governance and additional benefits to their surrounding community, workers and environment. In short, B Corp helped set the foundations for a good well rounded company that could grow. [05:15] What other Standards do Forest currently hold? Forest currently hold ISO 9001 certification and are looking to implement ISO 14001 in the near future. They currently operate within 18 boroughs in London, and are expanding from one central hub to several more warehouses, which is what will be covered under that ISO 14001 scope. With B Corp as their guiding North Star, they're confident they have all the right foundations in place to grow as needed. [06:10] What does Forest's higher B Corp score of 99 mean in reality? Within B Corp there are 5 pillars: · Community · Environment · Governance · Customers · Workers Its core focus is sustainability, but its approach is much more holistic and similar to the way ISO's implement a system that encompasses how a business works rather than just a siloed focus on one area. B Corp looks at a multitude if areas, such as: · Reducing Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions · Looking at your supply chain · Evaluating how your activities interact with your stakeholders To earn a B Corp score, you need to get certain marks and then you're scored across the 5 pillars. Many businesses going for B Corp tend to do well in the sustainability area, but they struggle with other areas such as workers and customers. The framework is designed to be more holistic than simply focusing on sustainability, so If you focus too much in that area, it may come at a detriment to the other pillars. [08:20] How did Forest embed sustainability into a business from day one rather than retrofitting it later? Sustainability was Forest's vision and mission right from the start. Their CEO and Founder had previously worked at a ride-hailing company called Cabify, and had led the Latin American operations there. Cabify was the first mobility company to offset all its emissions, this was prior to 2020 so it was seen as though-leader in the space. This inspired the now CEO of Forest with the concept of 'Human Forest', which was the idea that humans on bikes in a city can save CO2 by choosing bikes over carbon emitting modes of transport. Having it as a core part of the business from the start meant they didn't have to worry about budgeting road-blocks or additional approval. It was simply a part of the brand. Laura can see why retrofitting the same level of sustainability commitment may be difficult for other businesses, as Forest had already baked in the price of renewable energy from the beginning and didn't have to worry about that transition. Forest do differ in that unlike other larger companies that will be showing smoother trajectories towards net zero, they're already there. They face the unique challenge of keeping it there as they grow, as more bikes and available geographical locations means more manufacturing and bigger scope 3 emissions. So their transition to net-zero will overall look a lot less linear. [11:15] How has Forest balanced growth with genuine environmental accountability? Forest have managed to reduce their carbon footprint by 53% year on year, even with their continued growth. Tackling environmental accountability can be something that gets businesses stuck in a rut, especially with any applicable regulations. As Laura quotes, often perfection is the enemy of good. Small incremental changes are better than trying to get it all right first time. In Forest's case, to achieve that 53% reduction they looked at a more creative solution. Rather than manufacturing brand new bikes when needed, they reached out to the wider e-bike market to those that utilised their same manufacturer and asked if they had any spare bikes. This helped to massively bring down emissions that would have otherwise been created making new bikes, by accessing a second-hand market. This can't be done indefinitely, but it's a small action that has created a large impact for that year. Forest have also worked with manufacturers to help switch to using solar energy for the production process, which they are now monitoring to see how much this reduces emissions by. [13:50] What does tackling Scope 3 look like in urban mobility? Scope 3 for most businesses is their biggest source of emissions, typically accounting for around 80-90% of a businesses total emissions. For Forest this is closer to 100%. They've also noticed that compared to 3 years ago, the emissions are slightly less for things such as production and shipping of bikes. Laura admits that this may not be entirely due to the processes themselves getting more efficient, but as by-product of improving other areas such as technology or use of office spaces to help bring down the businesses overall emissions. At this stage, it's getting the methodology right for scope 3, to ensure their data is as accurate as possible. This includes sending questionnaires to suppliers and making use of technology to improve data gathering and analysis. [15:45] Why did they also attain Verra Validation, and why does third-party validation matter? Laura at the time was looking to ensure the highest level of credibility possible, which started with B Corp, ISO certification and then Verra Validation. Verra was a leader in this space, and dominate the market in terms of carbon offsetting. Forest didn't want to go through the whole process to sell offsets with Verra as it didn't make sense for their business, but they did want the validation as another layer of credibility. [17:45] How do sustainability, communications and public policy intersect in Laura's role? London, unlike most other major cities, does not have a single unified body, instead you have to negotiate borough by borough. Each one has the option to pick different operators and set their own requirements, which adds an extra layer of difficulty on top of existing sustainability regulations. Forest provided the perfect solution for various London boroughs who sought to reduce their overall carbon emissions. [19:05] Laura's advice to organisations seeking B Corp Accreditation: Get in contact with B Corp itself. They done a lot to improve their platform, and there's a lot you can do via the portal without their assistance. However, B Corp and their team at B Lab can give you more insight and context for the data they're looking for. She also recommends that you incorporate B Corp as early on as you can as it helps to set a solid business foundation. Laura also recommends going beyond the B Corp portal after certification to reach out to the wider B Lab community, as there are a lot of fantastic brands to connect with. B Corp will often host in-person networking meetings where certified businesses can catch-up, review progress and share new ideas. [20:40] B Corp Version 7: B Corp have recently released (as of podcast publication) a new version of their requirements, raising standards once again. One of the new requirements includes verification of an organisations' emissions, which includes products. Forest only just received their B Corp re-authentication in December 2025, and their next focus is obtaining ISO 14001 for their new warehouses. However, they do intend to stay B Corp accredited, so will likely look at meeting version 7 requirements following that. [21:45] What role do you think sustainable transport should play in helping cities to meet their net zero targets?: Transport makes up a third of UK emissions. Getting people onto more bikes and being more active will result in a significant reduction in emissions for our cities. When Forest asked their users: what would you otherwise have done in terms of transport if you didn't get on one of our bikes, 11% said that they would have gone in a car or a taxi. So an 11% modal shift, which is pretty significant! This doesn't account for private bike owners either. For cities, there's a big push to get HGVs off the road and to retrofit spaces to accommodate for more cycle traffic. It's a lot to consider and will require a lot of work, but with transport making up a third of total UK emissions, it's worth the effort for the benefits it will bring. If you'd like to find out more about Forest and follow along with their journey, check out the Linkedin page. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

The modern automotive industry faces many new challenges, as vehicles evolve with more complex data requirements and supply chains become increasingly interconnected, major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) require certain Standards as a mark of trust from potential suppliers. Currently, this trust is codified in TISAX (Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange). For businesses that have not previously dealt with Standards, TISAX can be seen as a daunting regulatory hurdle. However, a TISAX label is more than a compliance check, it's a recognised mark that your organisation has robust information security measures in place specific to the automotive industry, including considerations for protecting key intellectual property and prototype innovations. In this episode, Ian Battersby is joined by Emma Coxhill, isologist at Blackmores, to explore what TISAX is, who it applies to, what it requires and how OEM's and automotive suppliers can take their first steps towards earning a TISAX label. You'll learn · What is TISAX? · Who is TISAX applicable to? · Why is TISAX important? · What are the 3 assessment levels within TISAX? · What are the 3 different subject areas within TISAX? · How is TISAX implemented? · Why does TISAX use labels instead of certificates – and how can people verify these? · What is the ENX portal and how does this help with supplier onboarding? · Where should companies start if they want to earn a TISAX label? Resources · Register for our TISAX webinar here · ENX · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Emma Coxhill joins Ian to dive into the topic of TISAX, including who it's applicable to, why it's important and how businesses can make a start on earning a TISAX label. [03:40] What is TISAX? TISAX was developed for the automotive industry by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, VDA, and it's managed by the ENX Association. It's based on the ISO 27001 Annex A controls, and was created for the automotive industry because they were looking to standardise the framework for assessing and sharing information security results between manufacturers and their suppliers. [04:40] Who is TISAX applicable to? While applicable to the automotive industry, it encompasses quite a lot of businesses within this. This is because is applies to any organisation that handles sensitive data relating to vehicle development, manufacture and marketing. So, this can include any company providing car parts, vehicle software, cloud services, testing labs, engineering etc. Basically, any service providers to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) will be applicable. TISAX can also be applicable for those dealing with automotive related events, marketing and photography, as new models are protected IP and will require related business to prove that they have the correct security requirements to ensure any potential prototypes are protected. [06:50] Why is TISAX important? Mainly, it gives the automotive industry a trusted, standardised way to ensure information security across the entire supply chain. Without it, the OEMs and suppliers can conduct their own audits, but it'll be their own interpretations or what is considered an adequate level of security. The industry saw this as an open door to chaos, so TISAX was created to protect highly confidential automotive information and support compliance with relevant data protection laws. However, now it's not so much a 'nice to have' Standard as it is a requirement to trade, especially within Europe. It's fast becoming a tender requirement, and many OEMs won't make it past the procurement process without a valid TISAX label. The ENX portal, where labels are registered, can also help speed up the on-boarding process. So, the whole TISAX system has been built for ease of access to help manufacturers choose suppliers that prioritise information security. [09:00] What's the consequence of not having a TISAX label? A loss of opportunities. Those within the automotive industry that don't have a valid label will be seen as a security risk, leaving them at a competitive disadvantage. [10:30] What are the 3 levels within TISAX? Unlike ISO 27001, TISAX has levels that depend on the level of data sensitivity that you're dealing with. Level 1: Self-assessment – Considered as 'normal risk' with general processing of data. Level 2: Remote Audit – Applicable to those dealing with confidential information such as design documents or internal projects. This requires both a self-assessment and an audit. Level 3: On-site Assessment – Highly confidential information, so this applies to those dealing with sensitive research, development information or prototype data etc. This requires a physical on-site assessment, as the qualified TISAX auditor will need to ensure that you have the appropriate physical security measures in place. Most businesses will require level 2, but if you're looking to work with high-spec OEMs, then level 3 is more desirable. [12:00] What are the 3 subject areas within TISAX? The 3 main areas are as follows: Information Security: This covers general information security controls such as relevant policies, access controls, risk management, incident handling and secure operations. Prototype Protection: This focuses on safeguarding physical and digital prototypes, design data, test vehicles and confidential development information. Data Protection: This ensures proper handling of personal data in line with legal requirements such as GDPR. If you're just doing a self-assessment, you can pick the areas which are most relevant to you. If you've been requested to earn a TISAX label, they will usually provide you with their preference on subject areas. Many will opt to take information security, but data protection is also quite common. The prototype section is more specialist and not applicable to all businesses. [14:00] How is TISAX implemented? There are a few stages to gaining a TISAX label: Awareness – Learn the requirements for TISAX and planning for the project ahead. This may include asking your clients about what they expect of your from an information security perspective and working out costs for assessments and any additional support. The ENX website has a lot of really useful info, including a handbook and a copy of the self-assessment. Preparation – This is where you need to complete your TISAX scope and register yourself on the ENX portal. Your scope needs to specify your selected level (1,2 or 3) and the subject areas you'll be focusing on. You also need to include the locations within scope, which have to be listed one by one (not simply 'all offices in the UK' for example). Self-Assessment – The template for this can be downloaded from the ENX website. This is essentially a Gap Analysis that grades your current level of compliance with the TISAX requirements. It includes a scoring mechanism, where you'll be aiming to get a 2.71, as that's the pass rate. This self-assessment will highlight what gaps you need to fill before going ahead with an external assessment. Implementation – This is where you will bridge those gaps highlighted in the Self-assessment. This will involve creating the required documentation requested by TISAX and updating existing systems to align with requirements. Before going ahead with external assessments, we highly recommend you conduct some internal audits to ensure you're ready. External Assessment – Whether this is remote or on-site, you need an official TISAX auditor to perform the assessment. A list of approved TISAX auditors is available on the ENX portal, we recommend getting a few quotes to get the best price. We also recommend requesting a kick-off meeting so you can have a chat with your auditor about the requirements and how they'd like to review the required evidence of compliance. The Assessments are similar to that of an ISO certification, it's broken down into 2 segments. One is a document/evidence review and the other is done with both parties present to go through their findings, review further evidence and to question any gaps found. Again, similar to ISO, you may receive either minor non-conformities, non-conformities, opportunities for improvement or observations in their final report. If you get any non-conformities, you'll need to provide an action plan within 2 weeks following from your assessment to address them. You will then be allowed a few months to implement the corrections, which will be reviewed and approved by the auditor before receiving your label. If you only received opportunities for improvement then you'll get a label straight away. [20:40] Why does TISAX use labels instead of certificates – and how can people verify these? Taking ISO 27001 as a comparison, that certification has a blanket framework that can apply to every business. While you can exclude small bits, the vast majority applies to everyone. TISAX is more scaled based on the level of security you're dealing with. Businesses can pick both different levels and different subject areas for their Label. Another key difference is that Labels can only be verified through the ENX portal, this is where other TISAX clients can see who has what Label, including the details of level and selected subject areas. Business can still chose to state TISAX compliance on their website, but the details regarding the level of compliance only need to be seen be relevant individuals. [22:05] What is the ENX portal and how does this help with supplier onboarding? The ENX portal is accessible through the ENX website. It does require a fee to make an account, but this is where everything related to TISAX is managed. This is where you will upload your scope and findings and it's where Labels are assigned and documented for suppliers to search for. There are options for how much information you want to disclose within those public searches, allowing you to select the need for contacting for further information. The ENX portal can help massively in reducing the amount of supplier questionnaires you need to fill in, as those looking for automotive suppliers will simply look up your TISAX Label to verify if you have the required level of security to continue with the procurement process. [24:50] Where should companies start if they want to earn a TISAX label? If you're just diving in, we recommend you do some research first to fully understand what you're expected to do to earn a Label and how much the process will cost. Next you'll need to define your scope, so look at what sites need to be included and identify relevant client requirements in relation to TISAX. This is to ensure you're going for the right Level and subject areas. Next evaluate your internal resource for the project and related budget. As mentioned, you will need to pay to register on the ENX portal and you need to consider Assessment costs and any additional support costs should you need consultancy services. You'll also need to assign individuals to manage the project, which will include completing the self-assessment, updating your policies, procedures and documentation to align with the requirements and possibly conduct training if required. This isn't a 2 week project, realistic timescales will vary, but generally if you're starting from scratch you're looking at 9-12 months. If you have ISO 27001 in place already this could be reduced to 6-8 months. As with anything Standard related, leadership commitment is a big factor as you'll need their help and support to ensure the projects success. If you need additional help, reach out to consultants such as Blackmores to help guide you through the process. [28:05] Upcoming TISAX Webinar – Join us on the 18th March 2026 at 2pm for a webinar where we'll dive into TISAX further and provide practical guidance on how to complete the VDA Self-Assessment. Attendees will also get access to some freebies. So don't delay, register your place here today. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

A Standard like ISO 14001 may seem more appropriate for large enterprises looking to address their environmental footprint, however it can apply to any business no matter the size. All businesses produce waste, and we can all do more to save energy, resources and money in the process. For some SME's, tackling resource wastage through effective environmental management can make a huge difference. Such is the case for today's guest, Surface Print, a family owned wallpaper manufacturer managed by its 4th generation. In this episode, Ian Battersby is joined by James Watson, Managing Director of Surface Print, to discuss why they implemented ISO 14001, the related resource challenges for SME's seeking ISO Standards and benefits gained from certification. You'll learn · Who is James? · Who is Surface Print? · Are there any other Standards Surface Print have to adhere to as a wallpaper manufacturer? · Did those other Standards help with understanding the process for ISO implementation? · What was the driver behind ISO 14001 implementation? · How long did it take them to achieve ISO 14001? · Have they considered any other ISO Standards? · What were the challenges for an SME seeking ISO certification? · What were the benefits of implementing ISO 14001? · How have Surface Print leveraged ISO 14001 in marketing and communications? · James' top tip Resources · Surface Print · James Watson · Isologyhub · What is the Isologyhub? In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Managing Director of Surface Print joins Ian to discuss their journey towards ISO 14001 certification, the challenges involved with ISO implementation for SME's and the benefits felt after certification. [03:25] Who is James Watson? James Watson is the Managing Director of Surface Print, a wallpaper factory that is a family-owned business based in Lancashire. Both he and he sister are the current directors, he 88 year old father is still involved within the business. They are the 4th generation in their family to be involved with wallpaper, starting with their great-grandfather, Walter Watson, who started the business all the way back in the 1880s! [04:35] Who are Surface Print? Surface Print operate in both analogue and digital printing, with 10 large analogue printing presses and 6 state-of-the-art HP digital presses. They have two elements to the company, with Surface Print handling 3rd party printing and white labelling for interior design brands. The second is 1838 Wall Coverings, which is the original design branch that sells their designs worldwide. Surface Print are not a volume printer, they focused on high-quality manufacturing with a key focus on attention to detail. All the manufacturing occurs at the UK factory. Their typical clientele include the likes of John Lewis, Harrods and other high-end interior stores. Their 1838 Wall Coverings branch recently had a collaboration for the past 3 years with the Victoria and Abbot Museum in London, where they were allowed access to their archive for inspiration on designs. [07:35] Are there any other Standards Surface Print have to adhere to as a wallpaper manufacturer? Mainly it's the Construction Products Regulation EN 15102, which is specifically for construction products used in buildings. They also needed to get FSC certified as they were dealing with paper and wood pulp. [08:20] Did those other Standards help with understanding the process for ISO implementation? James quite honestly admits that no, none of the previous mandatory regulations helped with understanding the ISO process. As they understood that it was going to be quite the task, they outsourced help from Blackmores to assist with implementation. Alison Henshaw from our Team worked alongside Surface Print's ISO committee to break down the Standard and offer valuable consultancy on aspects such as legislation. [09:05] What was the driver for ISO 14001 Implementation? Wallpaper manufacturing is very heavy waste. Analogue machines can have up to 10% - 20% waste per production order. With that much waste, it can quickly make the entire process very inefficient. There was also the spend on energy and gas to consider as all of those prices are increasing year-on-year. ISO 14001 could solve both of these issues while saving them a significant amount of money. [10:15] How long did it take Surface Print to achieve ISO 14001? In total, around 12 months. It would have been quicker, but there were some administration issues with the Certification Body that delayed the final Assessment. [11:55] Have Surface Print considered any other ISO Standards? As they're only just into their first year of ISO 14001 certification, they've opted to stay focused on maturing that system before opting to go for any other Standards. [08:20] What were the challenges for an SME seeking ISO certification? Surface Print initially struggled with the administration side of ISO 14001, things like keeping on top of document and process updates, updating the legal register etc. This is where Blackmores Consultant Alison came in to bridge the gap and ensure they kept all the necessary paperwork up-to-date. They also needed more technical expertise in the area of environmental management. Their ISO committee weren't ISO experts and so there was a gap of knowledge between understanding the ISO Standard and how to apply it to the business, which is where Alison helped once again to guide them on their journey. [13:35] What were the benefits of implementing ISO 14001? Their ISO 14001 certification affects every decision made. It's not just about environmental management, it's about managing your business as a whole. The Standards actively require leadership commitment, so it starts from the top down. It's led to a more cohesive structure to making business decisions and thinking from a more environmental perspective. There have also been cost savings. Manufacturing in the UK is generally very expensive, so the more environmentally focused you can be results in savings on energy and resources. For example, Surface Print use a lot of electricity for both the machines and drying process involved in wallpaper manufacturing. They now measure their monthly energy usage against the rolls of wallpaper produced. They also installed solar panels which saved them a significant amount of electricity usage over the last year. They're also investing in newer equipment to help with efficiency, making plans on how to reduce gas usage. It's also helped with their general business administration as documentation needs to be kept up-to-date. The whole process is now a lot more thorough, and has greatly improved their general monitoring and measurement processes. They also have confidence in their regulatory and legal compliance, as ISO Standards have this as a basic requirement. Many opt to use a Legal Register to help keep all this information in one location. Surface Print also found that they can answer client questions quicker due to the amount of documented information at their fingertips, this now includes more environmental based questions, which are cropping up more often. [18:35] How have Surface Print leveraged ISO 14001 in marketing and communications? Surface Print often get asked by potential brand clients 'What's the benefit of working with you?', to which they can answer with a sustainability statement which lists all of the benefits. The first point of which is ISO 14001 certification, which is a globally recognised mark of effective environmental management. They ensure that their environmentally conscious stance is first and foremost in marketing and external communications. This is not done out of a forced obligation, Surface Print have chosen to do the right thing, which is becoming the norm. To not think about the environment, especially in high-waste industries, is generally frowned upon. [20:25] James' top tip for those thinking about implementing an ISO Standard – ISO implementation can cost a fair amount up-front, but the cost saving benefits within a year can supersede that investment. You will see a lot of big improvements at the start, once your system matures you can expect to see those improvements slow in rate while still driving continual improvement at a steady pace. With the addition of effective monitoring and measurement, those improvements are quantifiable, so you can really see the results of your investment. [23:25] James' book recommendation – Guinness Book of World Records [23:55] James' favourite quote – "You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" If you'd like to learn more about Surface Print, check out their website. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Internal Audits are a key part of any ISO Implementation journey, they are also a necessary vehicle to drive continual improvement. For those with more mature ISO Management Systems, it can be easy for Internal Audits to become a bit of a rinse and repeat exercise. This can lead to stagnation of meaningful results, especially if you're asking the same people the same questions year on year. So how can you revitalise the Audit process? In this episode, Steph Churchman is joined by Sarah Ball, the Service Improvement Manager at Blackmores, to discuss the challenges associated with repeated internal audits, and how you can refresh the process to ensure you get meaningful results to drive continual improvement. You'll learn · What is an Isologyhub Gameplan? · What issue is the Audit Accelerator tackling? · Who is the Audit Accelerator aimed at? · What are the five steps in the Audit Accelerator Gameplan? Resources · Isologyhub · What is the Isologyhub? In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Blackmores Service Improvement Manager joins Steph on this episode to talk about the challenges many face when completing internal audits in an annual basis, and how these can be refreshed to ensure valuable output. [00:45] What is the isologyhub? The isologyhub is our online learning platform for all things ISO. Its main feature is the ISO Roadmap, a 7-step guided apprach to implementing your own bespoke ISO 14001 compliant Environmental Management System. Since it's creation, it's grown to hold a library of over 200+ ISO related resources. The content available varies from quick accessible content such as ISO templates, ISO handbooks and short from video training we call Coffee Break Training which explain key elements of ISO Standards. This goes onto more in-depth content such as our ISO Pathways which take you through 3 levels of learning to help you progress from Learner to leader in your chosen subject area. There's other exclusive content on there which you can dip into, including our full workshop recordings which have covered topics such as utilising ISO Standards for ESG compliance, how to integrate ISO Standards and how to complete an AI impact Assessment. [02:10] What is an isologyhub Gameplan? Gameplans have been designed to be actionable pieces of content within the Isologyhub. They are guides where people can work through a particular set of information about a topic and practical guidance that can be applied within the own organisation. Each game plan is structured around a kind of area that is quite commonly a difficult area for many organisations managing ISO Standards. Each Gameplan also includes a number of Workbooks to help you through each step, whether as an individual or as part of a team. [04:00] What issue is the Audit Accelerator tackling? internal audits are a fundamental part of any ISO management system, but it's also something that can get a little bit stale when you've had a management system for a while. It can tend to feel a little bit like a rinse and repeat exercise where you're having similar conversations with the same people about the same processes, which isn't what internal audits should be. The reason they're in the standards in the first place, is to help push continual improvement. For example, if you've got a quality management system, you'll be looking to ensure that processes are being followed, but also where there are opportunities to improve. This is where a lot of people drop the ball in mature systems. Internal Audits can be intimidating for some, and can be rushed as just something that needs to get done. But by rushing them, by not talking the proper time to speak to different individuals, you are missing out on valuable information that can ultimately help you improve your services and way of working. The Audit Accelerator Gameplan was designed to help you to really get the most out of those internal audits, give the process a bit of a refresh and rethink how you're approaching your audit planning. It also provides guidance on how you can get better engagement from the wider business with audits. Refreshing the process will help you to gain new perspectives, and ensure that internal audits becomes a positive experience that everyone can engage with, no matter what level they are at within the business. [08:15] Who is the Audit Accelerator aimed at?: The person who's responsible, or personal team who is responsible for coordinating the internal audit plans within an organisation. It's aimed at those so that they can help the wider business to understand what audits are about, and also so that they can also look at how they're planning audits. [09:15] What are the five steps in The Audit Accelerator?: Step 1: Check – This step helps you to assess where you currently are with your Audit Program. It includes a workbook with a checklist that you can work through, this will give you a score to indicate how well you're doing and where you can improve. It asks questions such as: · How effective are the audits that you're doing in your business? · Are there areas that you could perhaps make improvements? Step 2: Challenging Assumptions - This step provides information about what the purpose of internal audits are, why people have misconceptions about them, what some of the common fears and concerns are about audits, so that you can start addressing them within your business. This can include simply talking to your colleagues in a more positively framed way about Internal Audits. Another suggestion is changing the name 'Internal Audit', especially if it has negative connotations within the business. The Standard doesn't say they have to be called anything, as long as you're asking people about how things are done, ensuring processes are being followed and allowing people to suggest improvements, the way you go about doing to (including the name) can be done in whatever way works best for your business. This step also includes the main workbook that you will work through for the rest of the steps. Step 3: Change It Up – This sections includes a few different videos about different ways of planning audits and different ways of explaining audits to your colleagues so that they feel a little bit more comfortable about them and understand the benefits and real opportunities that come from participating in audits as well. Step 4: Collaboration – This step stresses that it's really important that Internal Audits is not something driven solely by just one person. Everyone has a positive part to play in the process. This includes Management, as they need to hear audit feedback and make changes where required. This helps to show that audits drive meaningful change, and should encourage everyone to have their say. So, this step is really about making sure that management, audit planners and auditees understand their role in the process. Step 5: Check Again – This involved going back to that initial assessment of where you were when you started the Gameplan, and reassessing after you've implemented some of these improvements through the improvement workbook and seeing if you have moved the goalpost from that initial assessment. Hopefully you'll have a much higher score to show how much you've progressed after following the Gameplan steps. If you'd like to become a member of the isologyhub, we have an exclusive 20% discount available for listeners, simply Contact Us and quote: Isologyhub20 to claim that discount. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

AI has become inescapable over the past years, with the technology being integrated into tools that most people use every day. This has raised some important questions about the associated risks and benefits related to AI. Those developing software and services that include AI are also coming under increasing scrutiny, from both consumers and legislators, regarding the transparency of their tools. This ranges from how safe they are to use to where the training data for their systems originates from. This is especially true of already heavily regulated industries, such as the financial sector. Today's guest saw the writing on the wall while developing their unique AI software, that helps the financial sector detect fraud, and got a jump start on becoming accredited to the world's first best practice Standard for AI, ISO 42001 AI Management. In this episode, Mel Blackmore is joined by Rachel Churchman, The Global Head of GRC at Umony, to discuss their journey towards ISO 42001 certification, including the key drivers, lessons learned, and benefits gained from implementation. You'll learn · Who is Rachel? · Who are Umony? · Why did Umony want to implement ISO 42001? · What were the key drivers behind gaining ISO 42001 certification? · How long did it take to implement ISO 42001? · What was the biggest gap identified during the Gap Analysis? · What did Umony learn from implementing ISO 42001? · What difference did bridging this gap make? · What are the main benefits of ISO 42001? · The importance of accredited certification · Rachel's top tip for ISO 42001 Implementation Resources · Umony · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Mel is joined by Rachel Churchman, The Global Head of GRC at Umony, to explore their journey towards ISO 42001 certification. [02:15] Who is Rachel?: Rachel Churchman is currently The Global Head of GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) at Umony, however keen listeners to the show may recognise her as she was once a part of the Blackmores team. She originally created the ISO 42001 toolkit for us while starting the Umony project under Blackmores but made the switch from consultant to client during the project. [04:15] Who are Umony? Umony operate in the financial services industry. For context, in that industry every form of communication matters, and there are regulatory requirements for firms to capture, archive and supervise all business communications. That covers quite a lot! From phone calls, to video calls, instant messaging etc, and failures to capture that info can lead to fines. Umony are a compliance technology company operating within the financial services space, and provide a platform that can capture all that communications data and store that securely. [05:55] Why did Umony embark on their ISO 42001 journey? Umony have recently developed an AI platform call CODA, which uses advanced AI to review all communications to detect financial risks such as market abuse, fraud or other misconduct. This will flag those potential high-risk communications to a human to continue the process. The benefit of this is that rather than financial institutions only being able to monitor a very small set of communications due to it being a very labour intensive task, this AI system would allow for monitoring of 100% of communications with much more ease. Ultimately, it's taking communications capture from reactive compliance to proactive oversight. [08:15] Led by industry professionals: Umony have quite the impressive advisory board, made up of both regulatory compliance personnel as well as AI technology experts. This includes the likes of Dr.Thomas Wolfe, Co-Founder of Hugging Face, former Chief Compliance Officer at JP Morgan and the CEO of the FCA. [09:00] What were the key drivers behind obtaining ISO 42001 certification? Originally, Rachel had been working for Blackmores to assist Umony with their ISO 27001:2022 transition back in early 2024. At the time, they had just started to develop their AI platform CODA. Rachel learned about what they were developing and mentioned that a new Standard was recently published to address AI specifically. After some discussion, Umony felt that ISO 42001 would be greatly beneficial as it took a proactive approach to effective AI management. While they were still in the early stages of creating CODA they wanted to utilise best practice Standards to ensure that the responsible and ethical development of this new AI system. When compared to ISO 27001, ISO 42001 provided more of a secure development lifecycle and was a better fit for CODA as it explores AI risks in particular. These risks include considerations for things like transparency of data, risk of bias and other ethical risks related to AI. At the time, no one was asking for companies to be certified to ISO 42001, so it wasn't a case of industry pressure for Umony, they simply knew that this was the right thing to do. Rachel was keen to sink her teeth into the project because the Standard was so new that Umony would be early adopters. It was so new, that certification bodies weren't even accredited to the Standard when they were implementing the Standard. [12:20] How long did it take to get ISO 42001 certified? Rachel started working with Anna Pitt-Stanley, COO of Umony, around April 2024. However the actual project work didn't start until October 2024, Umony already had a fantastic head start with ISO 27001 in place, and so project completion wrapped up around July of 2025. They had their pre-assessment with BSI in July, which Rachel considered a real value add for ISO 42001 as it gave them more information from the assessors point of view for what they were looking for in the Management System. This then led onto Stage 1 in August 2025 and Stage 2 in early September 2025. That is an unusually short period of time between a Stage 1 & 2, but they were in remarkably good shape at the end of Stage 1 and could confidently tackle Stage 2 in quick succession. The BSI technical audit finished at the end of September, so in total from start to finish the Implementation of ISO 42001 took just under 12 months. [15:50] What was the biggest gap identified during the Gap Analysis? A lot of the AI specific requirements were completely new to this Standard, so processes and documentation relating to things like 'AI Impact Assessment' had to be put in place. ISO 42001 includes an Annex A which details a lot of the AI related technical controls, these are unique to this Standard, so their current ISO 27001 certification didn't cover these elements. These weren't unexpected gaps, the biggest surprise to Rachel was the concept of an AI life cycle. This concept and its related objectives underpin the whole management system and its aims. It covers the utilisation or development of AI all the way through to the retirement of an AI system. It's not a standalone process and differs from ISO 27001's secure development life cycle, which is a contained subset of controls. ISO 42001's AI life cycle in comparison is integrated throughout the entire process and is a main driver for the management system. [19:30] What difference did bridging this gap make? After Umony understood the AI life cycle approach and how it applied to everything, it made implementing the Standard a lot easier. It became the golden thread that ran through the entire management system. They were building into an existing ISMS, and as a result it created a much more holistic management system. It also helped with the internal auditing, as you can't take a process approach to auditing in ISO 42001 because controls can't be audited in isolation. [21:30] What did Umony learn from Implementing ISO 42001? Rachel in particular learned a lot, not just with ISO 42001 but with AI itself. AI is new to a lot of people, herself included, and it can be difficult to distinguish what is considered a risk or opportunity regarding AI. In reality, it's very much a mix of the two. There's a lot of risk around data transparency, bias and data poisoning as well as new risks popping up all the time due to the developing technology. There's also a creeping issue of shadow IT, which is where employees may use hardware of software that hasn't been verified or validated by the company. For example, many people have their own Chat GPT accounts, but do you have oversight of what emplyees may be putting into that AI tool to help with their own tasks? On a more positive note, there are so many opportunities that AI can provide. Whether that's productivity, helping people focus more on the strategic elements of their role or reduction of tedious tasks. Umony is a great example of where an AI has been developed to serve a very specific purpose, preventing or highlighting potential fraud in a highly regulated industry. They're not the only one, with many others developing equally crucial AI systems to tackle some of our most labour-intensive tasks. In terms of experience with Implementing ISO 42001, Rachel feels it cemented her opinion that an ISO Standard provides a best practice framework that is the right way to go about managing AI in an organisation. Whether you're developing it, using it or selling it, ISO 42001 puts in place the right guardrails to make sure that AI is used responsibly, ethically, and that people understand the risks and opportunities associated with AI. [26:30] What benefits were gained from Implementing ISO 42001? The biggest benefit is having those AI related processes in place, regardless of if you go for certification. Umony in particular were keen to ensure that their certification was accredited, as this is a recognised certification. With Umony being part of such a regulated industry, it made sense that this was a high priority. As a result, they went with BSI as their Certification Body, who were one of the first CB's in the UK to get IAF accredited, quickly followed by UKAS accreditation. [27:55] The Importance of accredited certification: Sadly, a new Standard creates a lot of tempting offers from cowboy certification bodies that operate without a recognised accreditation. They will offer a very quick and cheap route to certification, usually provided through a generic management system which isn't reflective of how you work. Their certificate will also not hold up to scrutiny as it's not accredited with any recognisable body. For the UK this is UKAS, who is the only body in the UK under the IAF that is able to certify companies to be able to provide a valid accredited certificate. There's are easily available tools to help identify if a certificate is accredited or not, so it's best to go through the proper channels in the first place! Other warning signs of cowboy companies to look out for include: · Off the shelf Management system provided for a fee · Offering of both consultancy and certification services – no accredited CB can provide both to a client, as this is a conflict of interest. · A 5 – 10 year contract It's vital that you use an accredited Certification Body, as they will leave no stone unturned when evaluating your Management System. They are there to help you, not judge you, and will ensure that you have the upmost confidence in your management system once you've passed assessment. Umony were pleased to have only received 1 minor non-conformity through the entire assessment process. A frankly astounding result for such a new and complex Standard! [32:15] Rachel's top tip: Firstly, get a copy of the Standard. Unlike a lot of other Standards where you have to buy another Standard to understand the first one, ISO 42001 provides all that additional guidance in its annexes. Annex B in particular is a gold mine for knowledge in understanding how to implement the technical controls required for ISO 42001. It also points towards other helpful supporting Standards as well, that cover aspects like AI risks and AI life cycle in more detail. Rachel's second tip is: You need to scope out your Management System before you start diving into the creation of the documentation. This scoping process is much more in-depth for ISO 42001 than with other ISO Standards as it gets you to understand your role from an AI perspective. It helps determine whether you're an AI user, producer or provider, it also gets you to understand what the management system is going to cover. This creates your baseline for the AI life cycle and AI risk profile. These you need to get right from the start, as they guide the entire management system. If you've already got an ISO Standard in place, you cannot simply re-use the existing scope, as it will be different for ISO 42001. If you're struggling, CB's like BSI can help you with this. [35:20] Rachel's Podcast recommendation: Diary of a CEO with Stephen Bartlett. [32:15] Rachel's favourite quote: "What's the worst that can happen?" – An extract from a Dale Carnegie course, where the full quote is: "First ask yourself what is the worst that can happen? Then, you prepare to accept it and then proceed to improve on the worst." If you'd like to learn more about Umony and their services, check out their website. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Watch the video interview here One of the common pain points when calculating your carbon emissions is simply gathering the data. When collating data from different departments and suppliers, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. The struggle doesn't stop there, as after obtaining all that data you have to find the best way to capture and display it in a way that's useable for the necessary number crunching. Many will turn to an old favourite, spreadsheets, but these can quickly become very unwieldy and impractical if you've got a lot of data to process. Thankfully, there's a lot of new tech and tools available to help make this task both approachable and integrated within your business. In this episode, Mel Blackmore is joined by Jessica Matthys, Lead Product Manager at Pulsora, to discuss how you can take data complexity from spreadsheets to supply chains, diving into data fragmentation, optimisation and how this can all be balanced for practicality. You'll learn · Who is Jessica Matthys? · Who are Pulsora? · What does data complexity mean in the context of carbon accounting? · What are the requirements for CSRD in California? · What are the biggest pain points relating to data collection? · How can you prevent data fragmentation across your business? · What does 'Comprehensive data' mean in the context of sustainability? · How can Pulsora help a business take their carbon data from spreadsheets to integrated data systems? · How can you make you carbon data more auditable and traceable? · How can new carbon focused technology, such as AI tools, help with seeking investment? · How can you get information from your supply chain to cover scope 3 emissions? Resources · Pulsora · CSRD – California Regulations · SB-253 & SB-261 · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [00:25] Episode Summary – Mel Blackmore is joined by Jessica Matthys, Lead Product Manager at Pulsora, to explore how you can take data complexity from spreadsheets to supply chains, diving into data fragmentation, optimisation and how this can all be balanced for practicality. [01:40] Who is Jessica Matthys: Is the Lead Product Manager for carbon solutions at Pulsora. She's been with Pulsora for a year and a half, but has worked within the ESG / carbon / sustainability space for over 8 years in total. Something that people might not know about Jessica is that her passion for sustainability started much earlier than her working career, starting in high school where she opted to live on a farm for one semester. That unique experience of working closely with nature and animals set her on the path that she still walks today. [02:30] Who are Pulsora? Pulsora is an end to end sustainability management AI powered platform. They can manage anything from data collection and carbon accounting all the way towards ESG reporting and audit support. The focus of their platform is auditability and transparency . [04:40] What does data complexity mean in the context of carbon accounting? Jessica breaks this down into three main elements: Disparate nature of data – When compiling data for greenhouse gas accounting, you have to take a lot into consideration including your own production and consumption in addition to all the upstream and downstream relationships across your value chain. The data for all of this will be scattered and will need to be brought together in order to get a full comprehensive view of your emissions data. Missing primary data – Some data may be very difficult to obtain, say from a supplier in a remote region, so in those cases you may need to make estimations to fill those gaps. However, you need to establish a proven and trusted methodology that can be repeated for such instances. Auditability and transparency – Your data needs to be robust enough to hold up to scrutiny in an audit. New and upcoming regulatory requirements will have stricter rules around how you collect and report your emissions. We can see this in regulations such as SB 253 and 261 within CSRD that will affect businesses in California. There's a new focus on mandatory reporting as opposed to voluntary, so you will need to ensure your data is in a good place to be audited when this starts to effect other organisations globally. [07:30] What are the requirements for CSRD in California? There are two main climate bills coming into effect in California in 2026, these are SB-253 and SB-261, which are supported by CARB (California Air Resources Board). These two regulations affect businesses who are either doing business in, have employees located in, or selling products over a certain revenue threshold in California. Affected businesses will be required to report on their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. There isn't anything new in these regulations that we haven't already seen in other European focused requirements, aside from the mandatory element. The first deadline for this reporting is expected to be due by June 2026, and this first year they will only be expecting reports for your scope 1 and 2 data. SB-261 has a slightly different focus, with it requiring climate risk reporting. This is similar to existing frameworks like ISSB or TCFD. This report can be published publicly and you just need to submit a link to that report to the appropriate bodies in California. The deadline for this one is fast approaching, with it being set at 1st January 2026. [11:10] What are the biggest pain points relating to data collection?: Jessica shares an example of a company that came to Pulsora with a spreadsheet that they dubbed 'the monster spreadsheet' that contained 100+ tabs with hundreds of people adding to it. It got to the point where it was always crashing and simply became a burden to use. It's a fairly common story, though maybe not to this extreme, that companies find they quickly outgrow spreadsheets as a form of manual data collection. There is also the question of the quality of data provided, how can they trust the insights gained from the data provided from so many different sources? At Pulsora, they've made use of AI within their platform that can help bring all that data together and analyse it to identify any anomalies and duplicated data. They've also focused on creating collaborative workflows, so all communications regarding collection of emissions data can be kept under one roof, meaning you have a fully traceable and auditable trail for all data collected. [15:10] How can you prevent data fragmentation across your business? Pulsora have made use of AI to prevent data fragmentation, they have achieved this with agentic AI, which is AI that can coordinate between different paths and can make decisions without a human in the loop. A use case for this might be where you have a company with thousands of suppliers, but would only be able to get emissions data from the handful of long-term suppliers that are happy to work with them. AI can assist with the remaining suppliers by looking for any published information those suppliers have, and take that emissions and financial data to create an intensity factor for the supplier. This can then make an informed estimate for how many emissions equate from so much spend with that supplier. The AI will of course keep a trail for all it's sourced data so a human can review this and ensure the information is correct if needed. [18:45] What does 'Comprehensive data' mean in the context of sustainability? When gathering emissions data, a business has to consider what part of its operations creates the most emissions. This will differ depending on the sector and nature of your business. Whether you're a B2B business or a manufacturer, you need to confirm where your largest emissions source. It's imperative that your emissions inventory is reflective of your business and its impact. There will also be gaps in the data you want / need to collect. You still need to ensure that data in any reporting provided is reflective of your operations, you can't just leave that data out, especially as there are now tools to help fill those gaps. AI for example can identify representative data to help bridge those gaps to provide a comprehensive inventory. [22:35] How can Pulsora help a business take their carbon data from spreadsheets to integrated data systems?: Jessica uses a company, Franklin Templeton, to explain the process. In this case, the company is a global asset manager and they used Workday for a lot of their HR, procurement and financial data. When it came to collating emissions data, they didn't realise that 95% of the information needed was already stored in Workday. For other companies that are quire energy intensive, there's a high chance that you already have a comprehensive system with most of the data required. In Franklin Templeton's case, they helped them to transfer this over into the Pulsora system with an existing out-of-the-box migration tool for Workday. For the HR data Pulsora were able to assist with ESG reporting. The Pulsora system was able to apply emissions factors to the transferred data automatically, which helped to create a comprehensive view of their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Jessica give another example for a glass manufacturing company called Seagen who are based in Turkey. While they didn't have the monster spreadsheet situation, they had a fairly good system in place but it wasn't quite reaching the mark in terms of being able to report against multiple different carbon frameworks. Pulsora's system help to quantify their data, quite a task in of itself due to how high their emissions were, and it also helped to apply all this gathered data to those carbon frameworks. They also utilised Pulsora to help gather various metrics from 7 business units across 100 sites, that aided in audit preparation and insurance. [29:00] How can you make you carbon data more auditable and traceable?: If you're just starting out on your emissions journey, we highly recommend looking to the GHG protocol for guidance on the scope 1,2 and 3 definitions and what's required of each for reporting. The first step you should take is to determine what scopes and categories are relevant to your business according to the GHG protocol. There are a few different approaches including a percentage based approach or ones that include more detailed data analysis. The second step is emission factors, which is essentially a process of taking your business activities and translating that into emissions. You need to establish a consistent approach to documenting these emission factors, and those emissions factors will be determined by your region. UK for example use DEFRA factors, the US have EPA and Europe uses AIB. There are global data sets available as well, such as IEA. The main key is establishing your methodology early on, and be consistent in your approach while documenting everything in line with that agreed methodology. For a more structured approach to carbon emissions reporting, that includes auditability and traceability at it's core are ISO Standards such as ISO 14064 and ISO 14068. [32:45] How can new carbon focused technology, such as AI tools, help with seeking investment? Jessica shares a sneak peak into a new feature that Pulsora have recently released to help with seeking investment, which is invoice reading. This feature allows users to upload invoices to the Pulsora system, and it will extract the required data without the need for manual input. This aids in the auditability and traceability within the system as this data is displayed right alongside the evidence it was extracted from. The system can also compare file content to spot and flag up any anomalies, so you can ensure your data is as accurate as possible before going through a formal audit process with a third-party such as Carbonology. That stamp of approval from a successful third-party audit can then be used for raising capital and sharing with stakeholders. [35:55] How can you get information from your supply chain to cover scope 3 emissions?: Jessica provides some helpful tips for scope 3 emissions, including:- Don't worry about getting primary information from all of your suppliers. You only need enough data to identify your decarbonization plans and strategy to share with stakeholders with a high degree of confidence. You don't have to get it 100% perfect. Prioritise your suppliers – Consider how much you spend with each supplier, how good are your relationships with them? What impact do your suppliers have on your emissions? You should target the ones that are the most impactful. A lack of response doesn't always mean a lack of data - Some supplier just won't respond to your data requests, but there are ways you can still get some information, such as 10 based emission factors to get a baseline. With publicly available data about specific sectors and regions, you can get pretty close to the info you need. Get creative – There are other ways to gather data, such as using similar more responsive suppliers as a baseline. You could hold an industry group meeting to talk about improving data transparency and data sharing. This process will be beneficial for all involved by driving both costs and emissions down through a collaborative effort. Create a sphere of influence, drive the change you want to see within your supply chain. Create a Supplier Sustainability Strategy – Again, a consistent and planned approach will encourage engagement. Lastly, don't sweat it if you can't always get the data you want. Making a start is more important than getting it perfect. A lot of frameworks are quite forgiving and allow you time to mature your systems to a level where reporting can be repeated on an annual basis. [40:30] What book would Jessica recommend? A Costa Rica travel book. Jessica simply love the country and it's culture, it's also highly immersive in nature and mostly operates on renewable energy. [40:30] What is Jessica's favourite quote? "If you were born with the weakness to fall, you were born with the strength to rise" Ruby Carr – extract from her poetry book 'Milk and Honey' If you'd like to learn more about Pulsora, check out their website. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Continual Improvement is at the heart of ISO Management, a large part of which is dedicated to ensuring issues don't reoccur. This is more than just putting a plaster on it and calling it a day, it's about finding the root cause. This not only eliminates wasted time, effort and money with firefighting repeated mistakes, but also drives meaningful improvement. Over the years, many techniques have been developed to help with finding cause. In this episode, Ian Battersby explores the need to find the root cause of issues in ISO Management and explains some key techniques for root cause analysis that you can put into practice to help stop recurring issues. You'll learn · What is meant by 'finding cause'? · Why do you need to find the cause? · Where is finding cause specified in ISO Standards? · Finding cause in practice · What are the 5 Why's? · What is the fish bone / Ishikawa? · What is FMEA? · What is fault tree analysis? · How do these techniques work in practice? Resources · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – Ian dives into finding cause within ISO Management, explaining various techniques to help you prevent recurring issues. [03:15] What is meant by 'Finding cause'? When an output from a process is not what was expected, then it is classed as a non-conformity which will need to be addressed through corrective action. Before you can put that action into place, you need to identify the root cause for the issue. It's about putting right what went wrong. [04:00] Why do you need to find cause? Ian gives an example of a reactive response to resolving an issue, it didn't get to the root of why the mistake happened in the first place. Finding cause is necessary to stop issues from repeating, rather than simply firefighting issues as they occur. ISO terminology has updated to reflect this over the years. There used to be a term called 'Preventive action', but this has since been changed to 'Corrective action' following on from the 2015 Annex SL update to many ISO Standards. This reflects the new risk-based approach to ISO management. The terms are largely the same in nature, but preventive action was widely misunderstood and so this was renamed and clarified following 2015. [05:55] Where is finding cause specified in ISO Standards? As with many aspects of ISO, the need for finding cause can be found in a few places within a Standard, including: - Clause 6.1.1 Planning: It specifies the need to determine risks and opportunities that need to be addressed. This is because they will affect the desired outcome of your Management System. It's also a good place to start thinking about how to reduce those risks. Evaluating your strengths and weaknesses also gives you the chance to contemplate whether your existing processes are good at delivering what you want. Clause 10 Improvement: The Standard states something to the effect of 'the organisation shall determine and select opportunities for improvement and implement any necessary actions to address those opportunities' These opportunities will focus on improving products and services, which includes correcting, preventing or reducing undesired results. Also included under clause 10 is a subclause that directly addresses non-conformities and corrective action. These specify not only the need to resolve issues as they arise, but to evaluate the need for action to eliminate the root cause. Additional requirements include the need to review these actions and determine if they are actually effective. Ian goes into Clause 10 in more detail in a previous podcast specifically looking at opportunities for improvement. [14:20] Finding cause in practice – Why a methodology is necessary: Ian provides an example where an employee may lack confidence completing a certain activity. Their lack of competence could lead to a process being delivered incorrectly. That adverse quality outcome would then likely end up with the customer who would raise a complaint, in this instance that could be a damaged product. The damaged product is what needs correcting, from your perspective you would be looking at what caused that to prevent recurrence. Without knowing the initial cause, you would need to determine whether it's a production issue or a human error. These types of scenarios can branch out further than the initial quality issue. For example, if that damaged product causes harm, then it turns into a health & safety risk. If products need to be scrapped, then there's an environmental factor. Complaints related to product quality may also not be recorded in a standard non-conformity system, and could easily be missed for a full investigation to find root cause. This is why it's important to have a consistent approach, in both logging issues and evaluating them to determine cause. [18:10] What are the 5 Why's? This is one of the more popular methods that people use to determine cause. It's simply a case of asking why a scenario happened, usually 5 times, though you can ask more or less depending on how long it takes to reach the core issue. It doesn't require much training and all it requires is an open and honest response to the questions. This method can get answers quickly and is often utilised as an early problem solving technique. [19:30] What is the fish bone / Ishikawa? This is a more visual method to find cause. Depicting a fish skeleton that categorises possible causes and groups these accordingly. These causes are then discussed for a few minutes, typically with teams of people in order to gain different perspectives to help pull apart complex problems into their contributing factors. This method is particularly useful in cases where there isn't a single underlying cause. [20:30] What is FMEA? FMEA or Failure Modes and Effects Analysis is a more structured technique and acts like a risk assessment in reverse. It looks at what can go wrong, what the effect of failure is and then how critical that failure is to the outcome of what you're trying to do. It uses risk priorities to decide what's more important. [21:15] What is Fault Tree Analysis? This method utilises a top-down logical approach. It's a diagrammatic representation of what's going wrong. It asks, does this happen? Yes or no or both, and branches down paths that explore the issue. It allows for quantitative measures with a number output that can help determine how likely recurrence will be. It's a method that is often used in engineering and manufacturing processes. [22:55] Scatter Diagrams: Scatter diagrams are a good tool to find correlation. They help visualise the relationship between two variables. If you have data rich environments, these can really help you plot out those relationships and make those links that otherwise may have been missed. [23:40] The 5 Why's in more detail: The 5 Why's is a great starting technique as it requires little training. Ian provides an example of using the 5 Why's, with the scenario of a worker who has injured themselves while cutting some wood. Using the 5 Why's, he asks these questions: · Why did the workers hand slip while cutting the wood? – They were holding the material in one had without the use of any clamping device to keep it steady. · Why was the material being held by hand instead of using a clamp? Because there was no clamping device available. · Why was there no clamping device available on the table? The design of that workstation didn't take into consideration the need for a permanent clamping fixture. · Why wasn't that taken into consideration for the workstation? The risk assessment for that workstation was overlooked. From this exercise, you can see how you can get to the root of an issue by simply asking 'Why' a number of times. Again, it can be more or less than 5 times, the name is simply a guideline. [25:40] The Fishbone / Ishikawa method in more detail: Another favoured simple technique for finding cause is the fishbone method. It utilises 6 categories to get to the root of an issue, those being:- · Machine: Addressing the equipment or technology that you use to deliver products and services. · Method: The way in which you deliver products and services. · Material: The raw inputs into your processes. · Measurement: The data and metrics that you use to monitor the successful delivery of your products and services. · Mother Nature: The environment and conditions in which you're operating. · Man – Although this has now been updated to 'People', addresses the human element of product and service delivery. This is a great method for instances where there may be multiple root issues, so you can categorise and analyse each of them with multiple perspectives involved as this is considered a more collaborative method for root cause. [28:15] Record your findings: We dive more into this in a previous episode, but essentially, it's a requirement of every ISO Standard to address these non-conformities as they occur. Going through the process of root cause and rectifying the issue will need documentation to prove that you are actively addressing these issues, as well as doing as much as you can to prevent recurrence. There is no defined way to do this in the Standard, so it can be documented via forms, intranets, other digital systems etc. Documenting all the evidence of resolving issues may seem arduous at times, but it will ultimately lead to genuine continual improvement, and will lead to reduced overall error. If you'd like any assistance with ISO Implementation or support, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

The topic of suicide is all too often a discussion avoided due to its tragic and uncomfortable nature. However, the reality is that there are 6,000 deaths by suicide in the UK each year, with in excess of 727,000 deaths annually worldwide. In recent years there has been more awareness about the topic, with a range of resources targeted to help with the prevention and support of those affected. For businesses seeking further guidance, a new Standard is on the horizon. In this episode, Ian Battersby is joined by Marcus Long, Chief Executive at IIOA, who shares his inspirational story of working through an unthinkable tragedy and creating a silver lining that aims to tackle the intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide. You'll learn · Who are IIOA? · Who is Marcus Long? · What was the catalyst behind BS 30480? · Who is involved with the development of BS 30480? · What does this Standard hope to achieve? · How does this Standard compare to other ISO Standards? · How will this Standard develop within the next year? · The cost of suicide · What are the benefits of BS 30480? · How can you get involved? Resources · Register your interest in BS 30480 · Contact Marcus Long · IIOA In this episode, we talk about: [00:25] Episode Summary – We invite guest Marcus Long, Chief Executive at IIOA, onto the show to talk about his involvement with the development of BS 30480, a Standard dedicated to the intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide. [01:30] Who are IIOA? The IIOA are the Independent International Organisation for Assurance, which is a trade association for global assurance bodies. Their members carry out certification to a wide range of ISO Standards, related Standard schemes, product certification and the provision of validation and verification training. [02:30] Who is Marcus Long? Before becoming the Chief Executive at IIOA, Marcus worked for the national Standards body side of BSI. There he was involved with ISO Standard development and later moved into certification. He's had 20 years' experience within the field of ISO Standards, and spent most of that time pushing the benefits and value of quality infrastructure. One thing many may not know about Marcus is that he spent 48 hours underwater! While not in one stint, Marcus is an avid scuba diver, and has been taking trips under the waves since 1990, with his cumulative underwater adventures reaching 48 hours total to date. [05:30] What was the catalyst behind BS 30480? Marcus experienced an unthinkable tragedy in October of 202, when his son Adam took his life at the age of 21. In the following three years, Marcus sought to find some sort of silver lining to give him some peace. After a while, he turned to look at the industry he worked within, Standards, which is focused on solving problems and finding solutions. Ultimately, it's aim is to make the world a better place, whether that's through sustainability, quality or Health & Safety. So why couldn't that principle be applied to something as difficult and heartbreaking as suicide. With that idea in mind, Marcus got talking to some national standards bodies in different countries around the globe, in addition to ISO, to see if the idea could spark some interest. These discussions reached BSI, who were currently also working on creating a Standards on the topic of menstrual health and menopause in the workplace. Marcus appreciated that they were willing to touch on topics that many shied away from. [08:50] The conception of BS 30480 – The first steps taken included hosting workshops at the Houses of Parliament in February of 2024. There Marcus brought together a wide range of people with different experiences, and asked them if they thought this Standard was a good idea and gather what how they would like to see something like this work in practice. With that encouragement and feedback, Marcus set to work on setting a scope and deciding who should be involved in the development process. [11:05] Who is involved with the development of BS 30480? As with many ISO's, the development team are made up of a wide range of people, including people from academia and business owners. Marcus ensured that healthcare specialists and those who've assisted in suicide prevention schemes were also included. All of these individuals had the same passion to help reduce the rate of suicide within the UK. [13:10] What does this Standard hope to achieve? The sad reality is that in many instances, it's a reactive response to suicide. What Marcus hope BS 30480 can achieve is to encourage the creation of suicide prevention strategies. This turns that reactive response into a proactive one in terms of preventing the worst from happening. As quoted from the Standard: " The aim is to make workplaces more suicide safe, more conducive to suicide prevention, more supportive of those who have been exposed to suicide and more knowledgeable and confident in talking about suicide and taking actions that prevent suicide." [15:30] How does this Standard compare to other ISO Standards? This Standard differs from ISO Standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 in the fact that it's a guidance Standard, so not one that can be certified to. It provides guidelines and guidance that businesses use, and select the parts that are most relevant to them. The Standard also includes a number of Appendix's that provide more practical guidance to help give businesses a clearer idea on how certain elements can be implemented, for example, the creation and deployment of a suicide prevention plan. So rather than a rigid set of requirements, think of it as a collection of practical ideas and solutions that can aid in the prevention of suicide. [18:20] How will this Standard develop within the next year? BS 30480 is expected to be published in November 2025, as they've just finished the consultation period in August 2025, which was met with a very positive response. Marcus would love to see this Standard move into the international stage by becoming an ISO, but for now it's being published as a British Standard. There are plans to create training and host webinars to spread awareness about the Standard, so keep an eye out on BSI's socials for more about that! The standard is set to enter a phased communication strategy: Phase 1: The launch of the Standard, which has already had some preparation as various other Standard bodies and those involved have been spreading awareness throughout the drafting process. Phase 2: Public awareness – Marcus and those involved in the creation of BS 30480 will be ramping up public dialogue on what the Standard is about and what it can achieve for people. Phase 3: Engagement – Actively getting business to engage with dialogue around suicide prevention, as this is a topic that some businesses are scared to even tough. But if we're to tackle it, it needs to be discussed. There is scope for this Standard to fit in with the likes of ISO 45001 (Occupational H&S) and ISO 45003 (Mental Health in the workplace). Marcus also discusses the opportunities for this to help less traditional workplaces such as educational institutions, sports clubs, charities & youth clubs. [23:30] The cost of suicide: As much as it seems inappropriate to put a price on suicide, there is more to it that the emotional and societal devastation. A report by The Samaritans suggested that each death by suicide resulted in a cost of £500,000. This is due to related costs for emergency healthcare systems and loss of productivity. Marcus emphasizes that if we are to get more businesses, Government and local Governments on board, all impacts of suicide need to be discussed in addition to the benefits of suicide prevention. While odd to approach it from a cost perspective, it's more often than not the language that businesses speak. They need to be informed of the investment required in people, time and cost just as much as they need to be aware of the many benefits of effective and proactive suicide prevention. [26:40] What are the benefits of BS 30480? The ultimate aim is to make workplaces a safer and better place. This Standard can also provide a means of effectively measuring social value, which is often times a rather nebulous metric to grasp. This Standard is here to save lives, and its practical guidance can help businesses create a clear path of actions to help those who may suspect that a colleague is in need of help. [28:25] How can you get involved? Marcus' biggest ambition is for BS 30480 to assist with saving lives, but if it's to achieve it's main aim, it needs advocates. Whether from trade associations, other Standards bodies or just from individuals, spread the word and encourage businesses to adopt the guidance provided. You can register your interest in BS 30480 through BSI's website, this ensures you get updates on the Standards progress and any training opportunities. If you'd like learn more about BS 30480, feel free to contact Marcus Long via LinkedIn. We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

How often have you heard someone say they aspire to be an ISO consultant? Likely not at all! That's not surprising as it's quite a niche world to find yourself in, yet despite that, there are still thousands of ISO professionals worldwide. We're continuing with our latest mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Anju Punetha, a QHSE Consultant at Blackmores, to share the journey of how she transitioned from special education in India, to ISO consultancy for international organisations. You'll learn · What is Anju's role at Blackmores? · What does Anju enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Anju take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge she's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Anju's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub · From Silos to Synergy: The benefits of Implementing an Integrated ISO Management System Webinar registration In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – We introduce Anju Punetha, a QHSE Consultant here at Blackmores, to discuss her journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 20121 and ISO 55001. [04:05] What is Anju's role at Blackmores? Her role primarily involves supporting clients in two key areas: maintaining and continually improving their existing ISO management systems and helping them establish and implement new standards. As part of that support, she: · Conduct internal audits · Reviews and updates management system documentation · Facilitate management reviews · Train internal teams and prepare them for certification audits. When implementing a new ISO standard, she'll start with a gap analysis – i.e comparing their current practices against the standard's requirements. Then break down those requirements into simple, easy-to-understand language and create a practical plan to bridge the gaps. Depending on the standard, she may also facilitate strategic business risk assessments, environmental aspects and impacts assessments, or information security risk assessments. Additionally, Anju helps clients develop and implement policies and procedures, create legal and compliance registers, and verify their readiness for certification body audits. [05:55] What does Anju enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Anju loves spending time outdoors with long walks being her go-to, as they help her unwind both physically and mentally. She also enjoys cooking for her family and friends. Experimenting with different cuisines and blending spices is something Anju finds incredibly relaxing. [08:00] What was Anju's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Like many of the Blackmores team, Anju never planned to become an ISO consultant. She began her career as a Special Educator, working with children with special needs in India. Later, she transitioned into the development sector as a Research Assistant, working on projects funded by The World Bank and the UN World Food Programme. These projects focused on microfinance, training and development, and women & child health. However, that role involved a lot of travel, which became challenging after the birth of her first son. So, Anju decided that would be a good time to take a career break. When Anju was ready to return to work, she looked for an office-based role which resulted in her joining Ericsson, a Swedish Networking and Telecommunication Company as support staff, and progressed upwards to become the Learning and Development Manager at their rapidly growing Global Service Centre in India. This involved managing training requirements of an employee base of around 4000+ employees, involvement in stakeholder management at all levels and vendor management. As part of the Operational Excellence initiatives, she also got involved in preparing different business teams for their internal and external audits. During that time, Anju became interested in Ericsson's Group Management System, which all legal entities had to comply with. She then moved into the newly formed Quality Department and helped them to gain various ISO certifications. She was the Project Leader for implementing Ericsson's Operational Maturity Model compliant to the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 and OHSAS 18001 (ISO 45001's predecessor). Joining Blackmores as an ISO Consultant felt like a natural next step when she relocated to UK. She's now been a member of our team for over six years, and continues to inspire others with her level of dedication to her work and clients. [13:35] What is Anju's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – The variation in daily activities is a big positive for Anju. One day she may be conducting a gap analysis for Environmental Management System for an IT company, and the next drafting policies and procedures for managing Events Sustainably for an Event Management company or auditing a client on their Information Security Management System. No two days are the same! She also enjoys being able to work with a wide range of clients across sectors like IT, construction, facilities, asset management, event management, and train operating companies, all ranging from small businesses to large, multi-site organisations. She particularly enjoys working on Integrated Management Systems, as they help clients save time and money by streamlining multiple standards into one cohesive system. It reduces duplication, improves efficiency, and encourages collaboration across teams—breaking down silos and building synergy. [15:50] Upcoming webinar: If you'd like to learn more about the benefits of integrated management systems, feel free to register for our upcoming webinar here. [17:30] What Standards does Anju specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 9001 Quality Management: A core foundation that many businesses start with when diving into the world of ISO Standards. This is an essential one for any ISO consultant and is often the first Implementation experience for many who go on to become ISO consultants. · ISO 14001 Environmental Management: This Standard provides a solid base for any business looking to start taking sustainability seriously. · ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management: Anju helped one of her previous employers implement this Standards' predecessor, and has since implemented and supported ISO 45001 for a number of Blackmores clients. · ISO 27001 Information Security Management: An increasingly popular Standard as we see more and more business rely on technology to keep their services running smoothly. · ISO 55001 Asset Management: A popular Standard within the facilities and public transportation sectors. This Standard aims to create a framework to help organisations manage the life-cycle of their assets. ISO 20121 Sustainable Event Management: ISO 20121 focuses on governing principles of sustainable development, which are: · Stewardship · Inclusion · Integrity · Transparency ISO 20121 was revised in 2024. The revised standard explicitly requires considering climate change and its impact on the event and stakeholders. The new version also expands beyond environmental concerns to encompass human and child rights, social impact (including mental health and diversity), and digital responsibility and how organisations should start considering these areas at the early stages of planning an event through post event activities. Recently, Anju has been busy in putting together the toolkit for transition to ISO 20121:2024 and preparing her clients with the implementation of the revised and new requirements. [21:10] What is the biggest challenge Anju had faced during a project and how did she overcome it?: Anju offers one experience in particular: She was working with a company that was implementing its first ISO Standard. The project not only involved creating and implementing standardised policies and procedures but also working on the overall change management within the business. The teams were used to working in silos for many years and were not very forthcoming with the idea of establishing and implementing standardised ways of working. This was due to various reasons, such as lack of awareness, operational activities taking precedence over risk and process-based approach. As a result, project leads struggled in getting support from the project sponsor and the extended project team in terms of time and effort. They had to put the project on halt for few months and only proceeded with the project after getting the full commitment from the sponsor and other project team members. During this time, ISO related roles and responsibilities were built into the job descriptions of the various stakeholders, these were agreed as part of the internal review processes and required time and effort for the different stakeholders within the business was agreed with the Management Team. At the end, this project helped the company to embed the standardised processes within the business, rather than it being just a tick in the box exercise to achieve certification. [25:35] What is Anju's proudest achievement? Anju's proudest achievement in relation to work, is when she's able to see a marked difference in the confidence level of her clients, from the start of the ISO implementation project, which is the gap analysis stage, to confidently facing the certification audit and demonstrating to the external assessors that the implementation of the ISO project was not just a tick in the box exercise for them. One achievement in particular stands out in recent months as she supported a client in successfully transitioning to the revised ISO 20121 standard. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

As the sustainability crisis grows more pressing each passing year, companies are increasingly being required to comply with various sustainability regulations and legislation, most of which include the need to monitor and verify your carbon emissions. Calculating these carbon emissions can be tricky, especially if you have a lot of sites or international locations that require conversions. This is where dedicated carbon accounting software can save you a lot of headache! In the second episode of the Platform to Proof mini-series, we invite Jay Ruckelshaus, Co-Founder and Head of Policy and Partnerships at Gravity, back onto the podcast to discuss how carbon accounting software can be utilised on your carbon verification journey, and explore the additional benefits provided by this technology. You'll learn · What is the role of carbon accounting platforms and how does carbon accounting software help to overcome the challenges that organisations are facing today? · How does carbon accounting software work? · What additional benefits are there from using carbon accounting software? · Why is carbon verification becoming increasingly important? · How can carbon accounting software encourage a culture shift? Resources · Gravity · Carbonology In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – We introduce Jay Ruckelshaus, Co-Founder and Head of Policy and Partnerships at Gravity, who will accompany Mel on a 3-part mini-series diving into carbon accounting software and the value it can bring. In this second episode Mel and Jay explore how carbon accounting software and verification work together for carbon compliance, in addition to the other benefits companies can gain from utilising carbon software. [02:30] Catch-up on the first part – If you missed our first episode in the series, go back and listen to that before continuing. It gives a more in-depth introduction to Jay, Gravity and carbon accounting software in general. [04:05] What is the role of carbon accounting platforms and how does carbon accounting software help to overcome the challenges that organisations are facing today?: Jay has had many conversations with those that have had challenges historically with gathering the data needed for carbon calculation and verification. As we see more regulations and legislation, this challenge is passed down to those just starting on their journey. Carbon accounting software can help ease the burden involved with these tasks. This can come in the form of making it easy to aggregate the data and doing the necessary calculations while maintaining a trail of where all that information comes from. There's also an audit trail available for the calculations done, which can be monitored and dug down further into. There's scope in many dedicated carbon accounting platforms for you to be able to dig deeper into your data if needed. Lastly, this level of transparency in the data is often a requirement of going through full carbon verification in alignment with best practice standards (such as ISO 14064). Ultimately, carbon accounting software can make the verification process go a lot more smoothly. [09:05] How does carbon accounting software work? Jay breaks this down to help define the purpose of carbon accounting software, and the additional benefits it can bring, including: A centralised place for carbon data: Often times, businesses need to pull data from a wide variety of places, and collating that data is always a challenge. Dedicated software allows for easier collection and storage of data from all of the necessary sources, such as utilities, logistics and finance. Carbon accounting software will often allow for integrations that allow for existing systems to feed data into the software without any extra burden. With the addition of AI tools, they can even allow for automatic document processing that can interpret the meaning of utility bills, fuel invoices, waste receipts ect to save on manual data entry. Carbon calculation: Another headache associated with carbon reporting is the calculation utilising all that data you've painstakingly collected. There're often additional layers such as conversion or emission factors that need to be considered when making these calculations. Carbon Accounting Software can do all of this for you, saving you the trouble and potential of making mistakes. This in addition to the transparency offered as the software will provide an audit trail to show how it arrived at the final numbers. Carbon Reporting: This isn't a feature in all carbon related software, but it can be another time saver if you find one that does. The raw calculations data will only get you so far, and that alone may not be enough to meet the requirements of whichever framework you need to comply with. Carbon software can assist with putting those calculations into a usable reporting format. This report and data can then be analysed and used for meaningful action, in addition to complying with a number of different frameworks. Carbon reduction: Some carbon accounting software will also have the additional bonus of being able to help you source potential solutions and vendors to help reduce your carbon emissions. This more proactive stance on taking your findings and making improvements is voluntary in a lot of schemes currently, but we are seeing a rise in a mandatory requirements to show evidence of carbon reduction, so it's better to get your head around this sooner rather than later. [15:20] Why is carbon verification becoming increasingly important? Sustainability is no longer isolated to one person or department in an organisation, there's an increasing overlap of sustainability with other functions such as financial reporting. It also coincides with those working towards ESG compliance, as the data collection, calculations and reporting infrastructure for sustainability information can have a very big practical effect. The need for transparency regarding sustainability is also becoming a bigger concern for customers and stakeholders, so naturally, companies are taking it more seriously as more questions are being asked of them in that regard. Having the data and paper trails (or software trails if you prefer) to back up their claims is vital. [19:20] How can carbon accounting software encourage a culture shift? Carbon accounting software is the glue that pulls all the elements of carbon compliance together. It's often the case that the person responsible for the software in a company is crucial for the full verifications process as well. Though the gathering of data is a team process, and if embedded correctly, then it can act as a catalyst for a cultural shift towards sustainability. Not everyone has to have knowledge of all the inner workings of carbon collection, calculation and reporting, but by being involved in the process they can feel a sense of accomplishment when milestones are reached. By spreading the burden companies can also afford to spend a lot more time working on this than they would have otherwise. Carbon accounting software can help this along by ensuring the data gets where it needs to go, and to make the process simpler for all those involved. The use of both a team-based approach in tandem with dedicated software can also help in regard to risk mitigation by removing single points of failure. Carbon reporting and verification is an annual task, so when people come and go from the business, it's key that you have the necessary skills, people and tools to help facilitate that process through those organisational changes. If you'd like to learn more about Gravity and how their energy and carbon accounting software can help you, check out their website. If you'd like to ask Jay any questions directly, feel free to send him an email. If you'd like any assistance with Carbon Verification, get in touch with the Carbonology team, they'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List

Becoming an ISO consultant isn't a career path many aspire to, rather it's one often stumbled on after being tasked with either implementing or maintaining a Standard for a business. We're continuing with our latest mini-series where we introduce members of our team, to explore how they fell into the world of ISO and discuss the common challenges they face while helping clients achieve ISO certification. In this episode we introduce Minoo Agarwal, a QHSE Consultant at Blackmores, to learn about her journey of following in her father's footsteps towards ISO Standards Management, and what drives her to help clients on their ISO journey. You'll learn · What is Minoo's role at Blackmores? · What does Minoo enjoy outside of consultancy? · What path did Minoo take to become an ISO Consultant? · What is the biggest challenge she's faced when implementing ISO Standards? · What is Minoo's biggest achievement? Resources · Isologyhub In this episode, we talk about: [02:05] Episode Summary – We introduce Minoo Agarwal, a QHSE Consultant here at Blackmores, to discuss her journey towards becoming an ISO consultant who specialises in ISO 14001, ISO 9001, ISO 45001 and ISO 27001. [03:50] What is Minoo's role at Blackmores? Minno's official job title is QHSE Consultant. She is the ISO14001:2015 standard champion and a Mental Health First Aider for Blackmores. Ultimately, Minoo supports clients with embedding Management System into the heart of their companies. Her work with them typically consists of: · Conducting internal audits · Management review · Consultancy days or document review days Essentially doing whatever it takes to getting the management system to be at a suitable level to pass external audits. [05:05] What does Minoo enjoy doing outside of consultancy?: Minoo's free time is mostly taken up by her dear son, Aarav. He's very young at the moment; and so Minoo makes sure that any of her input into his life is to ensure that he is successful in whatever career he chooses. In addition, Aarav has a very busy social life! So, she's makes sure her gets plenty of time to play with his friends. Minoo is also a bit of a foodie, enjoying eating out when possible. She also enjoys reading books by authors such as Jay Shetty and the Sad Guru. [07:10] What was Minoo's path towards becoming an ISO Consultant?: Minoo, like many of our consultants, didn't know that she would become a consultant. The opportunity was presented by Mel Blackmore via LinkedIn in 2019, on April 1st of all dates! Minoo's passion for this field arose from her father, Mr Hardial Agarwal, who is very well known in the industry. He worked as a consultant for Crayola for many years, travelling abroad to meet with various suppliers and international branches of the company. His work always held an air of mystery to Minoo as a child, and she become more curious about his role in later years, even attending CQI meetings with her father to learn more. She started her career in 2006 as a Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety Administrator and since then really never looked back, progressing from role to role from roles like Quality Associate, to a Business Quality Control Officer, to a QESH Auditor, to HSQE Compliance Manager and then as a Head of Quality. Each role gave her a different experience of life. As a result, she has worked in many industries ranging from electronics to logistics to pharma and even automotive and IT. She feels very fortunate to gain experience and knowledge from a range of industries from her previous roles, and now more so from Blackmores where this knowledge develops further. [12:35] What is Minoo's favourite aspect of being a Consultant? – Minoo genuinely loves her role as a consultant at Blackmores, it was hard to narrow down a specific aspect. That being said, Minoo loves to hear when a client of hers has passed their surveillance and re-certification audits, especially if it was with no findings. It's a return on their combined effort as a team to get recognition of that fact from a certification body. She also enjoys the teamwork involved, often being seen as a real member of the client's team. As a consultant, a bid part of your role is building strong working relationships, which makes the whole process run a lot more smoothly. She also takes a bit of joy in being able to be a bit bossy, though all the guidance is with the best intentions. [15:40] What Standards does Minoo specilaise in and why? Starting with: · ISO 9001 Quality Management: A core foundation that many businesses start with when diving into the world of ISO Standards. This is an essential one for any ISO consultant and is often the first Implementation experience for many who go on to become ISO consultants. · ISO 14001 Environmental Management: Minoo is our Standards champion for this Standard. This involves keeping on-top of any changes to the Standard and creating internal training material for the team. · ISO 45001 Health and Safety Management: A few of Minoo's previous roles involved health and safety compliance, so she learned a lot about ISO 45001 and general risk management along the way. · ISO 27001 Information Security Management: This one was a necessity to learn when joining Blackmores. Many of our clients have integrated management systems with multiple ISO certifications, most of which include ISO 27001. Minoo also has some experience with MHRA regulations and TS 16949. [18:20] What is the biggest challenge Minoo had faced during a project and how did she overcome it?: Minoo stresses that it's fundamental to fully understand the requirements of the client from the very onset of the project, if that is understood then there will be no challenges during a project. She provides two incidents in particular that stood out: Scope creep: There was an incident when there was a misunderstanding of the work agreed, and the client had anticipated much more than what was agreed. As a result, Minoo had to complete the work in her own time to meet their expectations. Personal bias: There have been incidents not related to projects but external audits when external assessors start to audit the client by providing what they believe their interpretations is of the standard is the only way that it can be implemented. Forgetting the fact that Standards are built to be flexible in the way they are implemented. They can get very fussy about the exact way documentation should be laid out and worded, which is obviously not a specific stipulation within a Standard. Minoo has overcome this by confronting the assessor at the time and asking them to explain where in the standard it say that – basically keeping them in check. [21:30] What is Minoo's proudest achievement? On the work side, Minoo is always proud to hear when a client has passed their Surveillance and Recertification Audits with no or few findings. On the personal side, it's her son who she lovingly dubs as her masterpiece. She's already instilling the values of health and safety into him, and he's always looking out for others. She couldn't be prouder to watch him grow up into his own person. If you'd like any assistance with implementing ISO standards, get in touch with us, we'd be happy to help! We'd love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here's how: ● Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin ● Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one. Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes: Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud | Mailing List