Colloide Case Study

Standards implemented:

• ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management)

• ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management)

• ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health & Safety Management)

• SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement)

Colloide is an accomplished process engineering company, with specialist skills in water treatment, energy, environmental and facilities engineering solutions. They are renowned within the industry for their reliability and innovative thinking.

Their services range from design through to construction, installation, commissioning, maintenance, and overall project management.

Established in 2002 by Managing Director Paddy McGuinness, their experience is wide ranging, from major water utility installations and innovative ‘first of its kind’ district heating projects through to work with breweries on process improvements and biomass heating installations.

Employing over 40 staff from the local area, with their Head Office and main workshop in Cookstown and a second workshop in Ardboe, they are ideally positioned within Northern Ireland’s engineering heartland.

Using certification to enhance their credibility

The motivation behind Colloide’s decision to apply for certification was that they wanted assurance that their services were being benchmarked against internationally recognised standards, making trading overseas both more efficient and much safer. Secondly, that the credibility of a well-known UKAS accredited certification body provided their customers with the satisfaction that they would be working with an organisation that is serious
about quality, environment and health and safety.

Paddy McGuinness, MD for Colloide explained, “It has been a long-standing commitment of Colloide to ensure our systems and provisions have been checked and verified by a credible body. When considering the plant and equipment that we supply to the water and energy sector, a UKAS accredited NQA certificate provides  assurance to our clients that our systems enable us to provide to the highest level of quality.

Having the three standards has set the company apart from our competitors and enabled us to win and tender for much more business throughout the UK and Ireland. It also means having a greater level of professional credibility, which is key in the highly competitive sector in which we work.”

Using certification to win new business

Colloide achieved its first certification in 2010, following an increased demand for certifications within tender questionnaires. Their desire to never have to say ‘no’ to potential new business was a driving factor in this decision in order to provide the company with the best shot at becoming a significant force within the highly competitive water and energy sectors.

A substantial portion of the work carried out by Colloide involves tender documentation, and it is strongly believed that if it wasn’t for having the three ISO standards Colloide would not be considered for inclusion on so many tender lists, especially when major contractors are involved.

Utilising a dedicated SHEQ Co-Ordinator to make organisational improvements

Colloide placed the evolution of the company in the hands of Grace King, their dedicated SHEQ Co-Ordinator with over 10 years’ experience with NQA under her belt. They believe that having a single person directing the project was instrumental in the continued improvements to their integrated management system. They also believe this was the key to Colloide migrating to ISO 45001:2018 and achieving 2 consecutive audits with zero
non-conformances.

Grace has said, "An Integrated Management System is relevant to any organisation, regardless of their industry. If you have a coordinated effort which is greater than the sum of its parts, it is not only more efficient but more effective. By implementing an IMS, the entire workforce is brought together to achieve a single goal that can impact multiple areas of your organisation. Our integrated management system is an effective tool used to simplify work, avoid conflicts and to reduce duplication of tasks, as well as leading to significant cost savings and efficient utilisation of resources within our organisation.”

Forming a strong relationship with NQA

Colloide have been working with NQA from the very start of their certification journey and have never even considered switching to another Certification Body. Initially the company explained that they invested in NQA’s services due to a ‘fantastic reputation’ and since NQA are recognised as one of the global leaders in the
marketplace.

They explained that their audits have been conducted to a very high standard and that the assessors were very approachable and highly knowledgeable on all aspects of the three standards.

During the Covid-19 Pandemic the introduction of continued remote auditing has been highly successful and allowed Colloide to continue to monitor the improvements that have been made within their integrated management system without disruption.

Paddy McGuinnes, MD, has explained "ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certifications are about professional credibility. By having all 3 standards, we are making a statement of intent that we are continuously striving to evolve as a company and be the very best we can be within our sectors, as well as being innovative and forward thinking to enhance the products and services we offer to our customers."

A future focused on continual improvement

Colloide’s focus for the future is to continue to strengthen the framework for all their processes, further embedding the culture of a unified, integrated, and formalised way of working throughout their business. As new legislations and regulations are introduced, Colloide will look to expand on their certification portfolio to appropriately enhance their business.



Find out more about Colloide here.

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