IA202611 — Training & Competence¶
Audit Record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Audit reference | IA202611 |
| Area audited | Competence, training and awareness |
| Audit criteria | ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 clauses 7.2 and 7.3 · SOP 4.2 · SOP 4.3 · SOP 4.4 · POL_HSQE_24 |
| Audit date | 18/05/2026 |
| Auditor | Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd |
| Auditees | Leanne Mason (Director, HR & Admin), Jason May (Site Supervisor) |
| Result | Conforms. 0 non-conformities, 1 observation |
| Previous audit of this area | IA202511, 2025 cycle |
| Form | FORM_INTAR001 Rev 1 ID 01/09/2025 |
1. Scope, criteria and independence¶
1.1 Scope¶
How AMWS determines what competence each role requires, how it satisfies itself that the people doing the work hold it, how it keeps that currency under review, and how awareness is delivered and evidenced.
Clauses examined: 7.2 competence, a) to d), and 7.3 awareness. Right-to-work checking is examined as part of the competence record.
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.
2. Method and sample¶
| Method | What was covered |
|---|---|
| Document review | SOP 4.2 Competencies & Training Issue 3 (01/05/2026) · SOP 4.3 Training Events Issue 3 · SOP 4.4 Periodic Safety Bulletins & Briefings Issue 3 · POL_HSQE_24 Training Policy Revision 3 |
| Registers examined | APP_12 Training Matrix at Issue 2 · APP_13 Tickets & Qualifications at Issue 3 (13/05/2026) · APP_11 at Issue 2 for the training currency measure |
| Records sampled | Every training certificate held on the portal for the office-based and supervisory staff, checked individually against its expiry date at the audit date · the right-to-work sweep completed in April 2026 · the toolbox talk delivered 12/05/2026 · the display screen equipment assessment of 26/11/2025 |
| Interview | The Director for HR and admin, on who holds the master record, how an expiry is spotted, and what happens when one is missed; the Site Supervisor, on how he satisfies himself an operative is qualified before allocating work |
3. Result against each clause¶
| Clause | What the standard requires | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 a) Determine the necessary competence of persons doing work under the organisation's control that affects performance | SOP 4.2 Issue 3 names the instrument and its scope: "A M Water Services maintains a Training Matrix (APP_12) that defines the training, skills and competencies required for every operational role." APP_12 holds the requirement set by role, covering the water hygiene, street works, plant and confined space qualifications the work requires. Tested against the roles actually performed | Conforms | |
| 7.2 b) Ensure these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training or experience | SOP 4.2 Issue 3 makes currency a condition of allocation rather than a reporting matter, and states the consequence: "Each must be in date for the period the operative is on the rota; expired certifications fall out of the Training Matrix and that operative is not assigned the affected work until refresher training is completed." Tested with the Site Supervisor, who described the same rule in his own words as the check he applies before allocating work | Conforms | |
| 7.2 c) Where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken | SOP 4.3 Issue 3 sets a forward-looking control with a stated horizon: "Prepare monthly report of re-certification dates at start of each calendar month and email to Directors and Site Supervisor", the report listing "certifications expiring in the coming 90 days". That is a ninety-day warning on every expiry, issued monthly to the three people who can act on it. Gap analysis is reviewed annually at management review under SOP 4.2 | Conforms | |
| 7.2 d) Retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence | SOP 4.3 Issue 3 sets the filing sequence: "Scan certificate; file in personnel HR file; update Training Matrix with new competency, course date and expiry." The master record is the live register maintained by the Director for HR and admin, with the certificate PDFs filed against each individual and published on the portal for the office-based and supervisory staff. APP_13 Issue 3, reissued 13/05/2026, states the relationship plainly — the portal page is the controlled reference and the live register is the master. Every certificate on the portal was opened and checked against its expiry date at the audit date | Conforms | |
| 7.2 Right to work | Not a clause requirement, but part of the same personnel record and examined with it | A right-to-work procedure was issued on 04/05/2026 and an annual sweep was completed in April 2026 with no exceptions. The sweep is a new control with one cycle behind it — the subject of OBS-01 | Conforms — see OBS-01 |
| 7.3 Awareness — the policy, the relevant objectives, their contribution to effectiveness, and the implications of not conforming | SOP 4.4 Issue 3 carries the strongest control in this area, because it converts awareness from a communication into a gate: "Where an operative has not acknowledged a briefing relevant to the work they are about to perform, the Site Supervisor must deliver the briefing and obtain acknowledgement before that operative attends the affected work." Briefings issued for general awareness are handled differently and do not block attendance, following a fourteen-day acknowledgement chase. The distinction is drawn by relevance to the work in hand, which is the right test. Delivery is evidenced by the toolbox talk programme, with the excavation safety brief delivered 12/05/2026 | Conforms |
3.1 Certificate currency at the audit date¶
Every certificate held on the portal was checked individually. The position at 18/05/2026:
| Holder | Qualification | Expiry | Position at audit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason May | Emergency First Aid at Work | 29/11/2028 | In date |
| Jason May | Fire Extinguisher Awareness | 21/07/2027 | In date |
| Jason May | Fire Safety Awareness | 22/10/2026 | In date |
| Jason May | Mental Health First-Aider | 07/11/2026 | In date |
| Jason May | Fire Marshal | 24/07/2026 | In date, renewal falling due |
| Leanne Mason | Fire Marshal | 15/11/2026 | In date |
| Leanne Mason | Fire Safety Awareness | 28/10/2026 | In date |
| Leanne Mason | Mental Health First-Aider | 13/11/2026 | In date |
| Leanne Mason | Emergency First Aid | Lapsed 30/10/2025 | Open under CAR-2026-003 |
| Joanne Graham | Display screen equipment assessment | 26/11/2025, assessment | Held |
Operational tickets for the field workforce — water hygiene, street works, plant and confined space — are held on the live register rather than published individually, and were sampled there.
4. Findings¶
4.1 Non-conformities¶
None.
4.2 Observations¶
| Ref | Clause | Observation | Owner | Target | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OBS-01 | 7.2 | The right-to-work procedure introduces an annual sweep, and the first sweep was completed in April 2026 with no exceptions. A control with one cycle behind it and no scheduled next cycle will lapse quietly. Set a recurring diary entry for the April sweep and capture each year's result as a dated record against the training matrix, so the cadence is evidenced rather than remembered | Leanne Mason | 30/04/2027 | CAR-2026-011 |
4.3 Status of the previous audit of this area¶
IA202511 raised one observation on the competence evidence trail, carried as CAR-2025-016. It is rolled forward into CAR-2026-004, which covers the same combined operator-to-equipment view raised at IA202603.
4.4 Actions open against this area from elsewhere in the cycle¶
CAR-2026-003, raised by IA202603 on 30/04/2026, covers the three expired statutory certificates. At this audit two had been renewed and the Emergency First Aid at Work certificate remained outstanding. The action is within its target date and is not re-raised here.
5. Conclusion¶
Competence and awareness conform to clauses 7.2 and 7.3 of all three standards. Competence requirements are defined by role, holdings are evidenced by certificate, and the rule that an expired certificate removes an operative from the affected work was described consistently by the procedure and by the Site Supervisor who applies it.
Two controls in this area are better than the clause requires. The ninety-day expiry report, issued monthly to the three people who can act on it, means an expiry is visible for three months before it happens rather than discovered afterwards. The briefing acknowledgement gate means an operative who has not acknowledged a briefing relevant to the work does not attend that work until they have — awareness treated as a precondition rather than a distribution list.
One observation was raised, on the durability of a new annual control rather than on competence itself.
6. Recommendations¶
- Set the recurring April diary entry for the right-to-work sweep and capture each result as a dated record. Close CAR-2026-011 on the second sweep, not on the diary entry.
- Keep the ninety-day expiry report going out monthly. It is the control that prevents the certificate position at CAR-2026-003 recurring.
- Where a certificate is renewed, record the new expiry on the register the same day the certificate is filed, so the report and the file cannot disagree.
7. Sign-off¶
| Role | Name | Position | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditor | Sean Ashton | HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd | S. Ashton | 18/05/2026 |
| Reviewed and accepted | Aaron Mason | Director | A. Mason | 18/05/2026 |