Lloyd’s Register conducted a six-day, three-person audit for a marine and offshore company through remote technology, due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions and challenges that the offshore sector is dealing with.
Specifically, LR conducted the remote audit for Whittaker Engineering Ltd.
The audit was implemented by two on-site auditors and one lead assessor working remotely completed the combined audit which involved a range of internationally recognised standards including the latest health and safety standard ISO 45001, environmental standard ISO 14001 and quality standard ISO 9001.
In addition, the communication between all parties was achieved through Microsoft Teams and interviews with staff both in the board room and across the site covering fabrication and CNC machining, a full sense of the controls and operations could be determined and assessed.
LR and Whittaker Engineering collaborated via a secure and dedicated connection as well as the clients conference technology and willingness to expand the use of Microsoft Teams. This allowed the on-site assessor to relay live time activities to the off-site lead assessor, and complete further assessment in areas not fully covered by remote at this time.
It is stated that the certification for the company was a major step, that’s why the audit had to be conducted as scheduled.
Murray Whittaker, Director of Projects at the family-run, Stonehaven-based business commented that
On top of COVID-19, it’s no secret that the oil industry is going through challenging times. Not only do we need to keep our certification valid today, we need to make sure we’re fully up-to-speed and in great shape for the future.
Ron Crooks, Assessment Manager at LR added that the audit was successfully conducted through the use of technology, while several customers of theirs are already trialling remote audits as a result of COVID-19.
Similar to remote audits, the Liberian Registry announced implementation of the first ever remote Annual Safety Inspection (ASI) aboard their ships, in a bid to adjust to the COVID-19 disruptions, using remote inspections as a direct response to the major restrictions.
