The construction industry is under many different pressures. Climate change fears have governments worldwide looking to the construction sector to be energy efficient, and, as a potentially hazardous industry, construction businesses are also under pressure to prove the highest levels of health and safety and to strive for improvement. In addition, there are the financial strains of the recession.
One answer to these different pressures is to turn to quality for help. Louise Jones, senior quality engineer for Balfour Beatty, is clear about the benefits. “At the moment quality is all about integrated systems. A focus on safety and the environment is hugely important and by integrating ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001 everybody can work to deliver these objectives.”
Quality in construction is not a new concept, but is has gained a higher profile over recent years. Louise explains: “Quality is being taken more seriously because it reduces costs and gives confidence to the client. The role of quality is to ensure you’re delivering what the client wants by having the right systems in place.”
From Quality World October 2009, p44
No comments:
Post a Comment