DRLC: Setting the standard for Authorising Engineering

DRLC Ltd provide Authorising Engineers for Mechanical Services in hospitals. The company offer a variety of services including Ventilation, Pressure Systems, Water Safety and Fire Safety. Providing consultancy to Healthcare providers requires an approach that understands these high-pressure environments; they must remain operational 24/7 whilst also keeping patients, staff and visitors safe.

Director Dr Louise Webb described the approach taken by DRLC as follows, “Most important for us is to act as partners for clients to the overall benefit of the NHS. There are various ways of being a consultant and an auditor. One is you line everybody up, tell them what they have done wrong and march out again. We don’t do that. We ask clients how we can help. We ask what their biggest issues are, where they think they need support. Instead of being at loggerheads with the people on the ground, we walk in their shoes.”

In conjunction with Quality Systems Consultant, Richard Dolman of Glade Consulting, the DRLC team worked through all the company processes and procedures to standardise and improve where necessary in order to meet the ISO standard.

The seven principles of ISO9001 quality management are:• Engagement of people• Customer focus• Leadership• Process approach• Improvement• Evidence-based decision making• Relationship management

The ISO14001 accreditation is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organisations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.

DRLC are delighted to announce that we were successful in our efforts. On 3rd April 2024, we officially gained this Accreditation. Managing Director, David Livingstone, had the following comments, “We have today been honoured by achieving ISO9001. Our founding Directors have focused on improving customer satisfaction and defining leadership duties and obligations. We will focus on Quality by improving our Consultancy Operations; improving our Service to our clients; improving our workers morale and satisfaction by standardising our operations.”

This is a difficult tightrope to negotiate and DRLC are on a journey of continuous improvement to ensure they get it right. With this in mind Directors, David Livingstone and Louise, as well as Customer Relationship Manager, Carolyne Chapman, have spent over a year developing standard systems and processes in order to fulfil the extremely stringent challenge of passing an assessment for ISO9001 and ISO14001.

As a long-standing advocate of carbon neutral engineering, David was asked what being ISO14001 certified meant to him, “In addition to achieving ISO9001 DRLC have also gained Certification to ISO14001 – the international standard for environmental management systems.

“Not only will this accomplishment help control our environmental impact, but it will also prevent pollution, ensure legal compliance and improve our reputation and corporate social responsibility.”

Contact DRLC on: sales@drlc.uk or 0114 299 7736