Welcome to the March edition of the QHSE Aberdeen Newsletter, where you can find the latest updates on our expansion, upcoming training courses, success stories, and industry news. This month, we’re excited to share –
✔ Our new location in Elgin, Moray, expanding our reach in the Highlands. ✔ New team members joining us to support our continued growth. ✔ A huge congratulations to Mitosis on achieving ISO 27001:2022 certification. ✔ Upcoming ISO Auditor courses—secure your spot now! ✔ Expansion of our CQI | The Chartered Quality Institute and IRCA | International Register of Certificated Auditors Certified Courses to meet growing demand. Monthly Question and answer that was sent in for us to include in a newsletter.
Read on to discover how QHSE ABERDEEN LIMITED is supporting businesses like yours in achieving excellence in Quality, Health & Safety, and Environmental management systems.
Exciting Expansion – New Location in Elgin, Moray!
We are delighted to announce that, due to increased business demand, QHSE Aberdeen has expanded! We have now opened a new location in Elgin, Moray, to better serve businesses across Moray and the Highlands. Our highly experienced Technical Manager, Jane Pack, will be leading this expansion, bringing our expertise closer to you.
We look forward to hosting an introductory meeting soon—stay tuned for further updates and look out for more info from Moray Chamber of Commerce News.
At our new location, we will continue delivering our trusted ISO Implementations and Auditor Courses, providing businesses in the Moray and Highland regions with top-tier training and consultancy services. Our mission remains the same – to support organisations in achieving and maintaining excellence in Quality, Health & Safety, and Environmental management systems.
Welcoming New Team Members!
Just as exciting, we have two new team members joining us over the next couple of months to help with our increased workload and bring their own expertise to our growing team. We can’t wait to introduce them to you soon—watch this space!
Celebrating Success – Mitosis Achieves ISO 27001:2022 Certification
🎉 A huge congratulations to our valued client, Mitosis Digital Technologies , for successfully achieving their ISO 27001:2022 transition certification! Denise Milnefrom Mitosis said…
“Transitioning to ISO 27001:2022 has been a rewarding challenge and demonstrates that we handle data with the highest level of security, reducing risks and reinforcing trust. Achieving certification is not just a milestone, it’s an ongoing commitment to continually refine our security processes, monitor threats, and follow the latest best practices to stay ahead of potential hazards. A huge thank you to QHSE Aberdeen for your guidance and expertise during the transition process – we couldn’t have done it without you!”
Their dedication to information security and continuous improvement is commendable, and we are proud to have supported them on this journey. Well done to the entire team at Mitosis!
🔹 Important Reminder – By 31st October 2025, all organisations must transition their Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) to align with the updated standard, ISO 27001:2022. If your organisation has not yet started the transition process, now is the time to act! Ensuring compliance before the deadline is crucial to maintaining certification and safeguarding your information security framework.
Upcoming ISO Auditor Courses – Book Your Spot!
We are excited to announce our upcoming ISO Auditor Courses, designed to equip professionals with essential auditing skills and knowledge. Our next courses include –
ISO 14001 Internal Auditor Course – day training course on 3rd March 📅
NEW! ISO 14001 CQI and IRCA Certified Lead Auditor Conversion Course – In-depth 3-day training starting 5th March 📅
April, brings the popular ISO 9001 Foundation, Internal and Lead Auditor, our IMS (9001/14001/45001) 3 day Internal Auditor and the increasingly popular ISO 27001 Information Security Courses.
These courses are ideal for professionals looking to enhance their auditing expertise and improve their organisation’s compliance with ISO standards.
Don’t miss out—secure your spot today!
📌 For more details, visit: www.qhseaberdeen.com
Expanding Our Training Portfolio
To meet growing client demand, we are introducing more CQI and IRCA Certified Courses in the near future! Stay tuned as we continue to expand our training offerings, ensuring businesses can access the highest quality ISO education and certification support.
A question was sent in by one of our readers…
At what stage during ISO implementation should we be considering scheduling an Internal Audit ?
As you may know, the initial certification audits are split into stages 1 and 2. The certification body (CB) usually expects all audit schedule processes to be internally audited before the stage 2 audit and at least once a year so the outputs can feed into the Management Review Meeting (MRM) which should also be done once a year and before the stage 2 audit. Years ago, most CBs were happy with just seeing evidence of an audit schedule being documented but now it is more usual that they want all the audits carried out. Please note, that you SMEs can usually group processes into 4 internal audits that normally run 1 per quarter. They can be pulled together more or split out more if there is a benefit to it.
As the CB takes a sample of evidence from you, they want to see you have also audited yourself to show the audit process is established and is being maintained.
In the future, you may opt for a 3-year audit schedule that is on a risk-based approach similar to what the CB does. However, for a new system, I would just take it 1 year at a time.
If you do all your audits before the CB stage 2 later in the year, I would do them all again in the following year and spread them over the 12 months. Remember, the audit schedule is self-imposed and can be altered to meet your company’s needs. For example, if you push back an audit a few months/to the next quarter, that is fine as long as you update the audit schedule. If you forget to update the schedule, then you end up with a non-conformance for not sticking to your own self-imposed (schedule) requirements. Another common issue is having only one internal auditor who ends up auditing a process that they own. Usually not an issue for initial certification but eventually the CB will say the single internal auditor is not “Impartial” for auditing a process they own.
The time spent internally auditing each year should also be proportionate to the CBs 3-year audit plan. For example, if they plan to spend 4 days over 3 years auditing your system, then you should plan to internally audit for 4 days a year. This is because the CB will have used an IAF/UKAS formula based on the size and complexity of your company to determine how much time is required to effectively audit all areas of your management system.
Lee Forsyth BA Hons Tech IOSH Operations Manager, QHSE ABERDEEN
That’s all for this issue of our QHSE Newsletter! We hope you found the information valuable and time well-spent. As always, this newsletter is crafted with the intention of serving our valued followers and subscribers. Your feedback, questions, and concerns are vital to us as we continuously enhance our QHSE practices. Whether you seek clarification on a particular topic, wish to share insights, or want to highlight specific issues related to QHSE, we encourage you to reach out. Together, we can foster a collaborative environment where safety, quality, health, and environmental stewardship are at the forefront of everything we do. Don’t hesitate to get in touch, as your input plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our QHSE initiatives.
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