HSQE Communication Bulletin — September 2026¶
Document Reference: COMM_HSQE_09_2026
Issue Number: 1
Issue Date: 30/09/2026
Review Cycle: Monthly
Controlled By: HSQE Consultant
Document Type: Communication Bulletin
Document Control Information¶
| Rev | Changes | Date | Approved By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 2026 issue. Monthly cycle resumed after the July–August combined catch-up | 30/09/2026 | Aaron Mason |
Executive Summary¶
Four things happened on 22 September: the annual Management Review, the premises inspection, the annual review of all 32 suppliers and the first HSQE culture audit cycle. Certification is maintained and every part of it is evidenced. The certification body visits on 6 to 8 October. Fire Marshal and first aid cover are both confirmed in date, and four certificates fall due across October and November.
🔴 Surveillance audit — 6 to 8 October¶
Alcumus ISOQAR are on site for three days, auditing ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 together, with the SSIP Core Criteria assessed on the afternoon of Day 2.
Anyone may be spoken to. Nobody needs to know the standards. What is worth knowing:
- Where your pack is. The working protocols for the job are on the Van Packs portal, and it now works with no signal once you have saved it.
- Who your health and safety contact is, and how you would reach them. Jason May day to day; the WhatsApp Works group; Leanne Mason for anything on tickets and training.
- What you would do with a near miss. Tell Jason, put it in the Works group, or fill in the Near Miss Report on the forms portal. Any of the three.
- Say what actually happens. An auditor is testing whether the system describes the work. An answer that matches the paperwork but not the job is the one that causes a problem.
🟢 Fire Marshal and first aid cover — both confirmed¶
The July–August issue reported Fire Marshal cover resting on one person. That was written from a superseded certificate and the position is better than it recorded.
| Cover | Held by | Runs to |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Warden (Fire Marshal) | Jason May | 21/07/2029 |
| Fire Marshal | Leanne Mason | 15/11/2026 |
| Emergency First Aid at Work | Leanne Mason | 16/06/2029 |
| Emergency First Aid at Work | Jason May | 29/11/2028 |
Leanne Mason's Emergency First Aid at Work certificate, outstanding since May, is held and was confirmed at the certificate-currency check on 22 September.
🟠 Falling due — October and November¶
| Expires | Certificate | Who | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22/10/2026 | Fire Safety Awareness | Jason May | Book before expiry |
| 28/10/2026 | Fire Safety Awareness | Leanne Mason | Book before expiry |
| 15/11/2026 | Fire Marshal | Leanne Mason | 31/10/2026 |
| 13/11/2026 | Mental Health First-Aider | Leanne Mason | Book before expiry |
All four are tracked at APP_13. Owner: Leanne Mason.
The annual Management Review — held 22 September¶
ISO 45001 requires the outputs of a management review to be communicated to the workforce. This section is that communication.
| Position at the review | |
|---|---|
| Internal audits delivered across the 2026 cycle | 16, with 0 non-conformities |
| Legal and regulatory requirements evaluated | 81, with 0 assessed as not compliant |
| Corrective actions on the register | 41 — 32 closed, 0 overdue |
| Suppliers reviewed against four checks on 22/09/2026 | 32, 0 failures |
| First aid inspections passed with seals intact | 34 consecutive |
| Emergency equipment items in date | 10 of 10 |
| COSHH assessments current | 30 |
| RIDDOR injuries, lost-time injuries, dangerous occurrences, RTAs and environmental incidents across four years | 0 of each |
The objectives set changed shape. They moved from thirteen to seven, because six of the thirteen measured an intention that produced no data. A set of seven that all report is worth more than a set of thirteen where six cannot be answered.
The full record is at Management Review — September 2026.
The premises inspection — 81 of 81¶
The Northampton premises were inspected on 22 September against a 95-question general workplace checklist. Every applicable question was met and nothing found requires corrective action. Two observations were recorded, neither of which is a non-conformity and neither of which requires action.
This was the first round, so it sets a baseline rather than a trend. The report states on its face what the checklist does and does not reach: it tests the general workplace fundamentals thoroughly, and it does not ask about excavation, street works, confined space entry or work around live mains. Those are covered by the van pack method statements and risk assessments, by the internal audit programme and by the compliance evaluation.
Report: H&S Inspections — Premises.
The first HSQE culture audit cycle¶
The H&S Culture Survey has been withdrawn. It depended on returns to produce a record. It is replaced by the HSQE Culture Audit at APP_27: a physical audit of the office and yard with a director present for the whole of it, plus questions asked face to face.
The first cycle ran on 22 September alongside the premises inspection, and the result is recorded on APP_27.
The directors put their own workplace under audit. The next cycle is in December.
🟠 Near misses — the one number that has not moved¶
Near-miss and close-call reporting has stood at zero for three years. That is read as an absence of reporting rather than an absence of events, because nobody does this work for three years without a close call.
There is no target number, and that is deliberate — a count target produces reports written to hit the number. What is wanted is the real ones. Three routes, any of which counts:
- Tell Jason.
- Put it in the WhatsApp Works group.
- Near Miss Report (HS_FM_03) on the forms portal, from your phone.
The December culture audit will ask directly: has anyone here reported a near miss, and what happened after they did. Whatever the answer is, it gets written down as given.
Toolbox talks¶
| Month | Topic | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | Driving for work — fatigue and distraction | SOP 8.13 · RA_HO_12 · RA_HO_18 |
| October 2026 | Confined space awareness | SOP 8.12 · FORM_PTW_01 |
The programme has been re-based to run October 2026 to September 2027. The topics are unchanged in substance; the twelve months now run from October so the year ahead is set out in full rather than half spent. See Toolbox-Talk Programme.
What changed in the management system this month¶
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| 09/09 | Ten HSQE policies reissued with legal and accuracy corrections; the remaining twenty-two reaffirmed |
| 04/09 | All eighteen home-and-office risk assessments reissued. Three notice-board compliance summaries issued and put up at both units and the welfare unit |
| 09/09 | APP_11 objectives and KPIs at Issue 4 — the set reduced from thirteen to seven |
| 15/09 | APP_26 COSHH Assessment Audit Register created. The forms position reconciled: two parallel forms systems were in use and an operative could complete either version. Settled — the AMWS forms portal is the system of record for its twelve forms, the Onyx portal for the other twenty-eight, and no form appears on both |
| 22/09 | APP_27 and FORM_HCA_01 created. H&S Culture Survey withdrawn |
| 27/09 | DSE assessments completed for both office workstations |
| 28/09 | JD005 Finance & Compliance Assistant and JD006 Admin Assistant issued |
| 30/09 | Van Packs portal reissued. HSE-BR-002 IMS acknowledgement record issued for management and admin staff |
The forms reconciliation is worth a sentence on its own. Sixteen forms the register had recorded as missing were live all along under a different number, including the Near Miss Report and the Accident & Incident Report. A register that is wrong about what it holds sends the effort into building forms that already exist.
Van Packs — it now works with no signal¶
The Van Packs portal has been rebuilt for a phone and it now works with no signal. Open it once somewhere with a connection, press Save, and the whole pack stays on the phone: method statements, risk assessments, COSHH assessments and the policies.
It replaces the paper pack in the van. Where the two differ, the portal is right.
Forms are the exception. They are submitted live, so they need a connection.
Coming up — October¶
| Date | What |
|---|---|
| 6–8 October | Alcumus ISOQAR surveillance audit, three days, all three standards |
| October | Confined space awareness toolbox talk |
| 22 October | Jason May Fire Safety Awareness expires |
| 28 October | Leanne Mason Fire Safety Awareness expires |
| 30 October | Harassment law strengthens — "all reasonable steps", and third-party harassment extends to other protected characteristics |
| 31 October | Target for booking Leanne Mason's Fire Marshal renewal |
Wellbeing — October¶
World Mental Health Day is 10 October. AMWS holds two Mental Health First-Aiders, Jason May and Leanne Mason, and POL_HSQE_29 is the policy behind it. Either of them can be approached directly and nothing goes further than that conversation unless you want it to.
Fatigue sits next to this and is the September toolbox talk subject for a reason. Long days and high mileage are the shape of this work. If you are too tired to drive, say so — that is a decision the business backs, not one it questions.
Issued by Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant (Onyx Operations) on behalf of A M Water Services Limited. Paper copies are uncontrolled when printed.