IA202601 — Context & Leadership¶
Audit Record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Audit reference | IA202601 |
| Area audited | Context of the organisation, and leadership |
| Audit criteria | ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 clauses 4.1 to 4.4 and 5.1 to 5.3, with ISO 45001 5.4 · MAN_01 · POL_HSQE_00 |
| Audit date | 28/04/2026 |
| Auditor | Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd |
| Auditees | Aaron Mason (Director), Leanne Mason (Director), Jason May (Site Supervisor), two operatives |
| Result | Conforms. 0 non-conformities, 1 observation |
| Previous audit of this area | IA202501, 22/09/2025 |
| Form | FORM_INTAR001 Rev 1 ID 01/09/2025 |
1. Scope, criteria and independence¶
1.1 Scope¶
Whether AMWS understands the context it operates in, has determined who its interested parties are and what they require, has fixed the boundaries of its management system, and whether top management leads it rather than delegating it.
Clauses examined: 4.1 understanding the organisation and its context, 4.2 needs and expectations of interested parties, 4.3 determining the scope, 4.4 the management system and its processes, 5.1 leadership and commitment, 5.2 policy, 5.3 roles, responsibilities and authorities, and ISO 45001 5.4 consultation and participation of workers.
1.2 Independence¶
The auditor is an external HSQE consultant engaged through Onyx Operations Ltd. He is not an employee of AMWS and holds no line responsibility for the work audited. SOP 6.2 requires that an auditor does not audit work for which they are also responsible; AMWS has no second competent auditor, and the consultant drafted much of the documented system. The mitigation applied is that no document is tested against its own wording. Each clause is tested against records, against what the people responsible describe doing, and against what can be produced on request. Findings are reviewed and countersigned by a Director, who holds the authority to accept or reject them.
1.3 Note on document states¶
This audit opened the 2026 cycle. Documents are cited at the issue they stood at on 28/04/2026. The IMS manual stood at Revision 2, the procedure set at Issue 2, and the context registers at their 2025 issues; the 2026 reissues of each fall after this audit and are not relied on. Where the wording of a document is quoted below, it is a document whose text at the audit date is verifiable.
2. Method and sample¶
| Method | What was covered |
|---|---|
| Document review | MAN_01 IMS Manual at Revision 2 · MAN_01a Roles & Responsibilities at Revision 2 · POL_HSQE_00 Integrated HSQE Policy Revision 3 (01/07/2025) · APP_01 Context & Interested Parties at Issue 2 · APP_03 SWOT at Issue 2 · APP_04 PESTLE at Issue 3 · APP_02 ISO Clause Application Matrix and APP_02.1 Process Register at Issue 1 |
| Records sampled | The minuted management review of 27/09/2025 · the monthly HSQE communication bulletin for April 2026, COMM_HSQE_04_2026 Issue 1 (01/04/2026) · the three certificates of registration held with Alcumus ISOQAR |
| Interview | Both Directors on strategic direction, client base and how context change reaches them; the Site Supervisor and two operatives on whether they know the policy and what it asks of them |
| Site observation | Westleigh Road repair, 28/04/2026 |
3. Result against each clause¶
3.1 Clause 4 — Context of the organisation¶
| Clause | What the standard requires | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context | Determine external and internal issues relevant to the purpose and strategic direction that affect the ability to achieve intended results, and monitor and review information about them | The context set is held at APP_01 and is supported by a SWOT at APP_03 and a PESTLE at APP_04, each carrying a review date. Context is monitored in two ways: formally at the six-monthly review of APP_01, and continuously through the weekly Director and HSQE compliance call and the monthly site visit. The monthly bulletin evidences the continuous route in operation — COMM_HSQE_04_2026 of 01/04/2026 records the publication of ISO 14001:2026, two named enforcement cases in the sector, and the position on the client assurance pack. What the continuous route does not yet produce is a written capture, which is the subject of OBS-01 | Conforms — see OBS-01 |
| 4.2 Needs and expectations of interested parties | Determine the interested parties relevant to the system and their relevant requirements, and monitor and review that information | APP_01 records the interested parties and what each requires, covering the water company clients, the regulators, employees, subcontractors, neighbours and insurers. Tested by interview: both Directors named the same parties and the same requirements without reference to the register, and the client-side requirements they described match the framework arrangements in force | Conforms |
| 4.3 Determining the scope of the management system | Determine the boundaries and applicability, considering the issues at 4.1, the requirements at 4.2 and the products and services; the scope shall be available as documented information | The scope is stated in MAN_01 and is carried on the three certificates of registration held with Alcumus ISOQAR under UKAS accreditation, registered 23/11/2024 and running to 23/11/2027: "Provision of Water Utility Installation, Repair and Maintenance including Reinstatement and Grab Services." The same wording appears on the manual and on the certificates, so the declared scope and the certificated scope agree. Exclusion of ISO 9001 clause 8.3 is stated and justified in the manual | Conforms |
| 4.4 Management system and its processes | Establish, implement, maintain and continually improve the system, including the processes needed and their interactions | The process set is held at APP_02.1 with the clause mapping at APP_02, and the manual describes the sequence and interaction. Tested by walkthrough against how a job actually runs, from client instruction through risk assessment and briefing to completion | Conforms |
3.2 Clause 5 — Leadership¶
| Clause | What the standard requires | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 Leadership and commitment | Top management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment by taking accountability for effectiveness, ensuring the policy and objectives are established and compatible with strategic direction, ensuring resources, communicating the importance of the system, and supporting other management roles | POL_HSQE_00 Revision 3 places specific duties on the Directors rather than stating a general commitment: "Directors shall: Lead by example and demonstrate visible commitment to HSQE" and "Review HSQE performance quarterly and set improvement targets." Tested against the record: the 27/09/2025 management review was attended by both Directors with no apologies, and each signed the minutes. Resourcing was taken as a review input and minuted: "Resources appropriate for operational demands. Skilled workforce of 20 personnel with comprehensive competency matrices." Both Directors were present on site during the audit | Conforms |
| 5.2 Policy | Establish, implement and maintain a policy appropriate to the purpose and context, providing a framework for objectives, including commitments to satisfy applicable requirements and to continual improvement; available as documented information, communicated, and available to interested parties | POL_HSQE_00 Revision 3 carries the commitments the three standards require, expressed against AMWS's own work: "Legal Compliance - Meeting all requirements including HSE legislation, Water Regulations, ISO 9001/14001/45001 standards", "Risk Prevention - Identifying hazards and implementing controls to prevent injury, ill health, quality failures and environmental harm", and "Continuous Improvement - Setting measurable objectives and regularly reviewing performance through management systems." The policy is signed, dated and issued on the portal, and is provided to clients with tender and assurance submissions. Communication was tested at the workface: the Site Supervisor and both operatives could state what the policy asks of them | Conforms |
| 5.3 Organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities | Assign and communicate responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles | Roles are assigned in MAN_01a and on the organisation chart, and the policy carries duties down to individual level: "All employees shall: ... Challenge unsafe acts and stop work if conditions are unsafe." Tested by interview — both operatives stated the stop-work authority without prompting and identified who they report to | Conforms |
| ISO 45001 5.4 Consultation and participation of workers | Establish processes for consultation and participation of workers at all applicable levels in the development, planning, implementation, performance evaluation and improvement of the system | Consultation runs through the toolbox talk programme, the works group used for day-to-day reporting, and direct access to the Directors, who are present on site. Tested on site during the audit: an operative raised a question on glove specification directly with a Director, and it was routed to the office for review against the supplier. The route reached a named person rather than stopping at the conversation | Conforms |
4. Findings¶
4.1 Non-conformities¶
None.
4.2 Observations¶
| Ref | Clause | Observation | Owner | Target | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OBS-01 | 4.1 | The weekly Director and HSQE compliance call covers operational and stakeholder context, and does so effectively — it is where context change is actually noticed and acted on. It produces no written capture, so clause 4.1's requirement to monitor and review information about context rests on the six-monthly register review alone and the more frequent monitoring is invisible to an auditor. Add a short standing context item to the weekly call notes; the six-monthly formal review of APP_01 is unchanged | Sean Ashton | 30/06/2026 | CAR-2026-001 |
4.3 Status of the previous audit of this area¶
IA202501 (22/09/2025) raised the same observation, carried as CAR-2025-001. It is rolled forward into CAR-2026-001 rather than closed, because the written capture has not yet been introduced.
5. Conclusion¶
Context and leadership conform to clauses 4 and 5 of all three standards. The context set is determined and held, the interested parties and their requirements are recorded and were described consistently by both Directors without reference to the register, the scope is documented and matches the certificated scope exactly, and the process set is mapped to the clauses.
Leadership is evidenced at the level the clause asks for rather than asserted. The policy places named duties on the Directors and on every employee, the review is attended and signed by both Directors, and the stop-work authority the policy grants was stated back by operatives on site without prompting. That last point is the strongest single piece of evidence in this audit: a policy that the workforce can state in its own words is a policy that has been communicated.
One observation was raised, on the recording of context monitoring rather than on whether it happens.
6. Recommendations¶
- Add a two-line context item to the standing weekly call notes and close CAR-2026-001 on a run of completed notes rather than on the template.
- Keep the six-monthly APP_01 review at its current cadence. The observation is about the frequent informal route, not the formal one.
- Continue to provide the policy with tender and assurance submissions, which is what makes it available to interested parties for the purposes of 5.2.
7. Sign-off¶
| Role | Name | Position | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditor | Sean Ashton | HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd | S. Ashton | 28/04/2026 |
| Reviewed and accepted | Aaron Mason | Director | A. Mason | 28/04/2026 |