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ARCA news
ARCA Awarded Investors in People Silver
In April 2020 ARCA was delighted to announce that it had been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) silver accreditation following its first-time assessment.
Through this accreditation, the IIP Board has recognised ARCA’s success as a high-achiever and business-leader, noting its exceptional performance in people management, leadership and development.
Investors in People silver accreditation acknowledges that ARCA has been awarded one of the highest levels of accreditation within the Investors in People framework. The IIP standard is made up of four levels and is assessed against 81 evidence requirements. Having met the recognised core standard of 27 evidence requirements, ARCA has achieved a further 32 requirements, or 59 in total. In doing so, we have leap-frogged the standard award at the first attempt, securing the coveted silver award.
“All of us at ARCA are justifiably proud of this achievement. Over the last few years’, we have put into place a number of people and leadership related programmes, from holding regular formal staff meetings to a performance appraisal system. Also, our Value Working Group, made up of staff from across the business, formulated and communicated ARCA’s core values,” commented Steve Sadley, Chief Executive of ARCA.
Member Internal Audit App -
new development and new pricing
The Association’s Internal Audit App, for Asbestos Removal Members, has been enhanced and a ‘site observation’ audit for contract managers is now available within the App.
The App was updated in the summer in line with the latest ARCA Site Audit Accreditation Scheme audit form, which includes the provision to include additional comments for each audit item, so making it easier to record good practices observed during the audit.
Also, a new ‘Contract Manager Site Observation Audit’ was made available from 1st July 2020. This provides a form enabling managers to quickly and easily record their site findings when visiting projects. Such as, how the asbestos removal job is progressing and that the job is being undertaken as planned.
“We developed the observations audit following feedback from members, so that managers’ site observations can be reported more formally. Also, the form is consistent in approach to a full ARCA audit, so supporting member contractors’ audit programmes,” commented Geoff Silver, ARCA Membership Compliance Manager.
Also, from the 1st July there was a revised pricing structure for when there are more than five registered users, meaning the sixth and further licences will be reduced by 50% to just £25 per user per year.
Further information on the ARCA Member’s Internal Audit App, including the pricing structure and a booking form, can be found in the support section at www.arca.org.uk
Have a 1 to 1 discussion with your Association
ARCA is now holding 1 to 1 discussions with full contracting members either remotely or arranging face to face meetings, following COVID-19 guidance.
The remote meetings can be carried out via Zoom or Teams, enabling members to still have a productive discussion with their Association, without the need to travel.
“It’s been great to be back talking to members, gaining their thoughts on the new offerings, such as remote training courses, and hearing how the industry is getting back to work,” commented Peter Glossop, Membership and Client Relationship Officer at ARCA.
When Peter contacts you, don’t miss the opportunity to talk to your Association.
NEWS IN BRIEF Member Regional Meetings
With pandemic restrictions lifting and member businesses getting back to work, ARCA held its July member regional meetings remotely for the first time.
“Over the last months it has been especially important to keep all our lines of communication open and be there to support our members, sometimes in new ways. Therefore, we felt it was important to keep our usual summer round of regional meetings, although remotely,” stated Steve Sadley, Chief Executive of ARCA.
In July ARCA reached over 110 member employees, covering items such as the new remote training courses available and reassurance on how practical training was now set up at centres, as well as updates on ALFA and site audits.
The member regional meetings in November will also be held remotely. Dates are available on page 7.
Member Internal Audit App - Update
Registered users of the ARCA Member Internal Audit App now have access to an audit form for non-licensed asbestos work, enabling any observations and actions to be recorded for work, such as the removal of textured coatings, floor tiles and asbestos cement roofing sheets.
Non-licensed work still comes under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, therefore the App is a useful tool to demonstrate compliance with these regulations, as well as the general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Details on the App can be found in the support section at www.arca.org.uk
ARCA resumed carrying out unannounced audits of members’ performance on asbestos removal sites on Monday 1st June 2020. What has ARCA seen since then?
Over the period of 1 June to 31 August, ARCA’s team of auditors managed to carry out 125 unannounced audits under the Site Audit Accreditation Scheme, which were for 114 member companies.
“Contractors have welcomed us on to site, and we have had no issues getting onto client sites. So, for us it really is back to normal,” commented Geoff Silver, Membership Compliance Manager.
“Our auditors are undertaking all the COVID-19 safety requirements and
Unannounced site audits of members –back on track
while on site assess arrangements and behaviours; what’s been planned and put into practice. We have seen that contractors have worked hard to make sure their sites are as COVID-19 secure as possible.”
Resuming unannounced audits means that member contractors will now have more up to date audit reports to include in their licence renewal applications. Also, it means that the Association’s commitment to its members of increasing their Site Audit Accreditation Scheme requirement from 2 to 3 unannounced site audits each membership year from January 2020, is back on track.
HSE asbestos licence application - new form
The HSE has made some small changes to the asbestos licence application form which will be used for licences that expire from November 2020 onwards.
Asbestos Licence Application Form V7.2
The evidence document/information required is now listed in the pre-populated evidence table, and if an applicant does not use a document which is requested, the applicant needs to record that and briefly explain why. For example, the use of SOPs is not a statutory requirement and may not be part of the operation of a business. Noting that those documents have not been submitted will allow HSE to be clear that a document is not present, rather than being missed off the submission of evidence.
Evidence Guidance V7.2
Guidance is now included for Section 5 (Decontamination / Site Cleaning & Preparation for Reoccupation / Management & Disposal of Asbestos Waste), and emphasises the need to correctly submit evidence e.g. clearly name and reference documents and include the section number in the email title, as well as, clearly referencing the relevant parts of these documents in the application form.
