The Science of Compliance: Auditing in the field
What does a Quality and Compliance Team Leader role consist of?
We catch up with Swiftclean’s Quality and Compliance Team Leader, Lee Mason, who takes us through his job role and explains the importance of the auditing procedure to ensure that on-site jobs run smoothly. Lee’s focus is currently on the ventilation and fire safety compliance services that we offer.
My role integrates operational work that requires intervention with auditing site activities for compliance, health and safety, or assurance of contract delivery specification. The two main reasons for auditing are either internal (company-driven) verification or external (client) validation.
Internally we strive for the highest standards of compliance, we monitor the level of work undertaken and report on its standard so that we can assess the competence of our staff in the field and build in measures that can support their improvement via training. We are then also able to identify actions or initiatives that can improve health and safety or identify solutions that can assist them.
Externally, we provide validation that the work undertaken is of the standard we committed to within the scope of works and provide assurance to the customers that we don’t just accept the reports created at face value.
At Swiftclean, auditing takes 3 different forms.
- We can remotely audit a site reviewing the digital post-clean verification report for compliance, consistency, and completion.
- We can also visit a site and assess completed works using a copy of the report created to check that all contracted aspects of the work undertaken meet TR19® (Grease) and BS EN 15780 standards.
- Our final method of auditing is to attend the site whilst work is being undertaken. When we do this, we can support the field operators by clarifying any confusing work instructions, providing training where required, and assisting them in profiling the work (via a digitalised report) to ensure we are working safely, efficiently, and suitably for the environment they are in.
(Added to the above of course are independent audits carried out by BESCA, as Swiftclean is a member of the scheme and listed on the Ventilation Hygiene Register, and client-organised external audits).
The benefits of auditing on an internal level are that we can capture training and competency needs early and support personnel to adjust their delivery methods. Swiftclean has a high percentage of right-first-time site delivery achievements of which we are proud, however, settling for less than 100% success does not promote good working practices and every company can aspire to continuously improve.
Another benefit of in-house auditing is that it enables us to celebrate successes and a job well done, all too often feedback is carried out where something may have gone awry, rather than congratulating innovation or hard work.
There are clear financial gains from identifying shortfalls early:
- Training requirements can be addressed where they are most necessary leading to a reduction in loss of staff and upskilling the workforce directly.
- Field operators also tend to work in small teams so being part of the support network additionally means we can promote a better team ethic, either remotely or in person.
- Field operators often do an amazing job, using their skills and experience to achieve solutions for the client. Feeding back positive comments and thanks for their efforts increases their confidence and where possible advances the team member’s position, especially when that recognition is also fed back to the operational management team.
This specific role is a new position that Swiftclean has trialled over the past 6 to 7 months. In that time, we have been able to liaise immediately with site contacts when issues have arisen as we are able to move our workload to react quickly. We have worked with site operators to find solutions for access difficulties, supported customers with identifying system inefficiencies, and provided practical on-site training to improve the competence of our teams working in the field.
My day-to-day role is challenging, and varied, and requires flexibility to adapt to different situations. It gives me great pride knowing that I help to improve the quality and compliance of our customers’ businesses giving them greater peace of mind.
In time, I hope to expand the role by undertaking more role-specific training to ensure, as a company, we can operate a high-quality service to a high calibre customer base, upskilling staff where appropriate so others can advance their capabilities and maintain Swiftclean’s position as a leader in our industry.
