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CONGRATULATIONS
FROM
LEY HILL SOLUTIONS
Our warmest congratulations to the following award winners with whom we have had special contact, or acted as assessors for this year.
Virgin Trains
University of Chester
Northern Rail
St. Anne's Primary School
Bishop Burton College
Like them, we wholeheartedly believe that the power of assessments based on the EFQM Excellence Model can make a very valuable contribution to an organization's success.
We hope many others will take up the opportunity to make similar significant improvements and receive recognition for their achievements.
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You are travelling by ship from south of the equator to the north in a cabin which has a bathroom, but no window. You know roughly - within 15 minutes either side - when the ship is due to cross the equator. You have a watch, but do not have a compass or any other instruments, including battery operated electronic devices. There is no radio, television, telephone, computer or any other form of communication device in the cabin.
How can you tell, without leaving the cabin or talking to anyone, when the ship crosses the equator and know you are accurate to within a couple of minutes?
Answer at the bottom of this column | |
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AN ISO 14001 LEAD AUDITOR?
SIGN UP NOW FOR OUR AMAZING VALUE COURSE
Click here to access our booking form, which includes instructions on how to book, payment methods accepted and terms and conditions of booking.
Bookings will be considered to be on a provisional basis only until full payment has been received. | | |
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IEMA
The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), with a membership of over 15,000 individual and corporate members based in 83 countries, is now the leading international membership-based organisation dedicated to the promotion of sustainable development, and to the professional development of individuals involved in the environmental profession.
IEMA is also the Competent Body in the United Kingdom for EMAS, the European Union's Eco Management and Audit Scheme. The Institute supports members by providing recognition of knowledge and skills through professional qualifications and through provision of its membership services, including IEMA Approved Training Courses, a range of high quality training courses aimed at equipping members with environmental knowledge and skills that make a practical difference in the workplace.
Hence you can be sure that an IEMA Approved Training Course Provider such as SGS, who uses this logo,  will provide training that is not only of a very high standard, but will also provide real benefits to your organization. Follow these links for more information about IEMA and EMAS. |
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IRCA
As well as certifying auditors, they approve training organizations and certify their auditor training courses in order to promote and maintain the high quality of such training and its fitness for purpose. Choosing an IRCA certified course will ensure that you do not waste money on inferior training that you later find is of very little benefit to your organization.
A division of the Chartered Quality Institute, The International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), based in London, is the world's original and largest international certification body for auditors of management systems, certifying more than 14,750 auditors in over 150 countries worldwide. | | |
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Think about it!! | |
Answer |
When it is near the time within which the ship is due to cross the equator, fill the washbasin, let the water settle and then gently remove the plug and watch the water drain away. Keep repeating this immediately after each lot of water has drained away.
If you are south of the equator it will spiral clockwise down the plughole, if north anticlockwise. It should only take a couple of minutes, maybe less, to fill and drain a washbasin, so the point at which you can see the water has reversed direction must be very close to the exact time your particular cabin in the ship crossed the equator.
If you are really lucky and the water is draining away as your cabin crosses, then you will see the water first spiralling clockwise, then going straight down without spiralling for the briefest of moments, then reversing direction and spiralling anticlockwise.
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| Newsletter - October 2011 |
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Greetings!
On Thursday 13 October ley hill solutions and some of our customers had a very enjoyable evening at the UK Excellence Awards ceremony, held by the British Quality Foundation (BQF). The photograph below shows us with our clients Paul and Wendy Baker, from Bakerail, who we were delighted to have join us at our table. Paul and Wendy are on the left of the picture.
In considering organizations for the awards, the BQF use an assessment process based on the EFQM Excellence Model and we at ley hill solutions have a tradition of supporting them each year by providing a number of experienced lead assessors and contributing to the development of the assessment process. Presentation of the awards followed an excellent meal, during which there was some stimulating conversation about a range of business management and performance issues. It was very inspiring, as always, to see the standard of the winners and finalists and to understand how much their commitment to the principles and application of the Excellence Model has contributed to their business success.
The event was hosted by broadcaster and journalist Louise Minchin and this year the Patron of the BQF, HRH The Princess Royal, was in attendance throughout and gave a very supportive speech after the award presentations. I and my colleague Tom McCormick from ley hill solutions were delighted to have the opportunity of meeting her before the dinner and hearing her thoughts about the benefits of using the EFQM Excellence Model.  It was especially gratifying, too, to see up amongst the winners, organizations with which we have had close contact. See our special congratulations to them to the left and the picture to the right of Richard Miller from Virgin Trains, who won the Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction.
Below is the full list of winners and finalists for the various categories of award. It is always worth considering these companies as potential benchmarking partners, especially those who work in similar fields or have gained particular recognition in any area where you yourself have identified improvement opportunities.
If you would like to see more photographs of the Awards ceremony, please use this link. This is a slideshow of photographs from the 2011 UK Excellence Award Ceremony held at the InterContinental Hotel, London Park Lane on Thursday 13 October. We hope you enjoy them (Ley Hill Solutions personnel feature in photographs 19, 30, 45, 72, 73, 74 and 120). If you would like to order any copies, please do so directly with the photographer, by clicking on the link next to the copyright symbol to generate an email message.
Additionally this month, we bring news of another ISO 14001 Lead Auditor training course we are offering, following the success of the one we ran earlier this year. Full details are below and below left and can also be found on our website. Please follow the links in the relevant articles to find more details or download the booking form.
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UK Excellence Awards 2011
UK Excellence Award
Winners
- Bishop Burton College
- St Anne's Primary School, Northern Ireland
- Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies (IA&DT)
Finalists
- Northern Rail
- Skanska Civil Engineering
- University of Chester, Student Support & Guidance and Careers & Employability
The BQF Gold Medal for Excellence
(Given for outstanding and sustained commitment to excellence over a number of years)
- Won by The Probation Service
BQF Special Achievement Awards
Winners
- Leadership (sponsored by BT) - Phoenix Futures
- Customer Satisfaction (sponsored by Oracle) - Virgin Trains
- Process Improvement (sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline) - Co-operative Banking Group
- Sustainable Future (sponsored by TNT Express) - Skanska UK
The BQF Lean Six Sigma Academy Award
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1SO 14001 Lead Auditor Training
Are you, like many others, finding that environmental and sustainability issues are becoming ever more important in your organization, including compliance with increasingly complex regulations in these areas and that consequentially you need to develop more expertise in them? Or that, if not now, then certainly in the future, ISO 14001 Certification (the environmental management system standard) is more and more something that is stated as a benefit, if not actually a prerequisite, by customers, clients and those offering tendering opportunities? If so, then it may well be advisable for you to consider ISO 14001 Lead Auditor training for yourself and/or a colleague or employee.
Knowing how important this is for many of our clients and also how difficult it is to find top quality ISO 14001 Lead Auditor training at a reasonable cost, we are very happy to announce that we have teamed up with a couple of our partners to provide an excellent residential Lead Auditor course, which is being held from 5th to 9th March 2012 at the De Vere venue Harben House. The course tutor and course materials are being supplied by SGS, world leaders in the field of inspection, testing and verification, who are a premier provider of this type of course and whose training  is approved by IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) and certified by IRCA (International Register of Certified Auditors). More about these two organizations and their role in upholding training standards is explained to the left.
Our course, we believe, represents outstanding value for money at only £1499 - for comparable courses of a similar calibre you will find other training providers charge up to £1850.
Full details of the course, including why we are offering it on a residential basis, are given below. How to sign up for it is shown in the box on the left. I do hope you are able to take advantage of this excellent opportunity. |
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Course Details
Who would benefit from this course?
- Organizations considering applying for ISO 14001 certification
- Organizations seeking UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accreditation for certification against ISO 14001
- Organizations wishing to ensure their environmental management systems are robust enough to enable them to meet and continue to meet statutory requirements and regulations
- Individuals who have some knowledge already of environmental management or environmental management systems such as ISO 14001, but do not necessarily have any formal training in this area and wish to extend their skills and knowledge
- Environmental and Quality professionals who wish to update their skills in all phases of auditing
- Those wishing to act as auditors (either internal or external) for ISO 14001 certification purposes
Who is this course not for?
- Complete novices to ISO14001 with no prior knowledge of environmental management or environmental management systems - other training providers, including SGS, run introductory courses to suit these
- Lead Auditors for ISO 9001 - there is some duplication across the skills and knowledge required to perform both roles and those already qualified as Lead Auditors for ISO 9001 will not need all elements of this course - other training providers, including SGS, run conversion courses to suit these
What is the course like?
- Interactive and supportive, with a mix of classroom learning, team and group work, case studies and role play
- Involves assessment - there is continual supportive assessment throughout the course and also a mid-course test and end of course examination, leading to a certificate on completion. Delegates must pass the assessment in order to gain the certificate, but this should not be a problem for those who participate fully in all the exercises and take on board any tutor feedback
What will I gain from this course?
- The knowledge and skills required to perform audits of environmental management systems against ISO14001 and national and international specifications, standards, statutory requirements and regulations using the principles of ISO 19011, the ISO's own guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing.
- Knowledge of current best practice and environmental legislation
- Ability to lead and manage audit teams and programmes
What is provided by the course fee?
- All training and course materials
- 4 nights accommodation (Monday - Thursday) on site at the training venue on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis (for an additional fee there is an optional extra night on the Sunday night prior to the course commencing)
- Lunch and unlimited tea, coffee etc. throughout the day during all 5 days
- Danish pastries on arrival on the first day
- Certificate on successful completion of the course assessment
Why is the course offered on a residential basis only? Doesn't that make it unsuitable for those who live within easy traveling distance of the venue?
As the course includes assessment and you will only get the certificate if successful, then it is really important that you safeguard your investment in this training by giving yourself the best possible chance of success. The course is structured around fairly long days, with an element of evening study and preparation work, which will make large demands on your time.
Not only does staying on site eliminate time spent on traveling and domestic necessities, such as preparing food and taking the dog for a walk, but it also allows you to maximise time spent networking and ideas and knowledge sharing with other delegates, which will greatly help consolidate your learning.
For these reasons similar training providers strongly recommend you do this as a residential course. By including the accommodation in the course fee, we save you the inconvenience (and most likely higher expense) of booking your accommodation independently.
The Venue
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ley hill solutions aims to be one of Europe's most innovative consultancy organizations specialising in the tools and methods to improve the way your business works and performs. We use internationally recognised standards and frameworks such as ISO9001 and the EFQM Excellence Model to develop solutions that are right for your business.
Please contact us at ley hill solutions if we can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Graham Hull
ley hill solutions limited |
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The information provided in this newsletter and on our website is as correct and up to date as we can make it. no warranty, express or implied, is given regarding its accuracy. We do not accept any liability for errors or omissions. We shall not be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damage for loss of business or loss of profits) arising from the use of, or inability to use, this site or any information contained it it, or from any action or decision taken as a result of using this site, or any such information.
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