Hydrographic-Geophysical Survey
Quality, Health, Safety and Environment
As well as our commitment to service excellence, we believe in behaving responsibly, following best practice procedures, meeting industry standards and complying with legislation. Our independent compliance audits and awards are testament to this.
Quality
ABPmer operates a Quality Management System (QMS), accredited to ISO 9001 for the delivery of Environmental Consultancy and Research Services.
Our QMS comprises a manual of procedures for our operations, deliverables and customer care. It is subject to a continual programme of internal review and external surveillance and recertification audits.
As an Achilles UVDB Verified supplier, our QMS and way of working is annually reviewed by their representatives, alongside our health and safety practices.
Health and Safety
A safety-first approach
Because we believe that all occupational injuries, illness as well as losses and damage to equipment or the environment are preventable, risk management is a fundamental component of every project at ABPmer.
All risks are identified, assessed and mitigated throughout the project process, from deciding whether to bid through to project closure. These risks are managed through a risk register, which is reviewed regularly with the Project Director, Quality Manager, project team, subcontractors, and the client. This ensures risks are identified, managed and mitigated as far as reasonably possible throughout a project.
ABPmer staff involved with survey activity have undertaken our inhouse training ‘ABP Risk Assessment (RA) and Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) Toolkit’. The course details the creation and review of RA and SSOW documentation, as well as dynamic assessments and Toolbox Talks.
All our surveyors hold industry-standard safety qualifications and medical certificates, including STCW95, ENG1 or equivalent.
Safety checks at every stage
Ahead of any survey mobilisation, specific RAs and SSOW are created and reviewed by qualified ABPmer personnel. These are always submitted to the client for external review. The RA and SSOW is discussed with anyone involved prior to travel to site, on site/onboard a vessel and prior to operations, in order to involve the full survey team, including subcontractors and vessel crew.
For any vessel-based activities, the vessel master will conduct a full induction when personnel come onboard, and dynamic risk assessments are conducted if additional hazards appear.
HSE is considered the responsibility of all involved. As such a ‘Stop Work’ rule is always active. With this in place, if any member of the team is unhappy with a procedure, we take time out to discuss how we can improve the method.
In addition, ABPmer operates an office contact procedure, where a nominated member of the office team will be notified of the day's survey plan and expected completion time. At the end of day, the surveyor will call the nominated person to confirm the safe completion of the operation.
Environment
ABPmer manages operational risks to the environment through an ISO 14001-accredited environmental management system (EMS).
The EMS identifies and classifies all hazards and outlines what management controls are in place to minimise our environmental impact, prevent pollution and minimise waste. The EMS is regularly reviewed and opportunities to improve implemented when identified.
All staff are encouraged to embrace our environmental and sustainability initiatives
We also operate an Energy Management System, certified to 50001:2011.
In line with our commitment to act responsibly, ABPmer has a dedicated Environmental Coordinator whose role is to support the ABP Group Environment Team in the delivery of environment actions, provide a point of contact within ABPmer for managing environmental issues, and communicate wider understanding of sustainability issues and actions.
ABPmer is a member of Avetta, a supply chain risk management service provider, who awards membership suppliers having achieved specified business management standards for Health and Safety, Sustainability, Environmental and Social Responsibility, Anti-Bribery / Corruption and Financial aspects of their operations.
Contact us to learn more about our ways of working.
