Why Companies Get Audited – Testimonial

June 16, 2021

The British Drilling Association (BDA) Audit is the single most important and effective commitment that your company can make to improving efficiency, health and safety and standards and differentiate itself from other companies in the sector and win business.

The BDA Audit has evolved considerably and has now that all-important third-party accreditation successfully achieved via the Minerals Product Qualification Council (MPQC). This is great news for the Audit and the companies that have passed, as it means the assessment and quality assurance of the audit is now externally verified by an industry-recognised training and assessment body, bringing the audit fully in line with BS22475-2&3.

As the awarding body, MPQC also holds CSCS accreditation, from 1st May 2021 all BDA Audit cards can now serve the dual purpose of being both an Audit card, as well as a CSCS card.

Companies are already benefiting from the new Audit such as Marriott Geotechnical who a after recently becoming members of the BDA, were also keen to immediately engage with the ever-growing BDA Audit scheme.

Part of the wider Marriott Drilling Group, Marriott Geotechnical approached the BDA Audit team to enquire about auditing their entire drilling staff as quickly and efficiently as possible. Following initial discussions regarding pre-audit requirements such as a Vocational Qualification in Land Drilling, a valid CSCS card and Emergency First Aid at Work certification, Marriott’s office team immediately set about submitting their applications. Marriott were also very keen to make use of the BDA’s offer to audit their eligible Support Operatives for free, permitting that they were audited alongside a Lead Driller also undertaking an audit assessment.

After submitting their applications, all required paperwork and a prompt invoice payment, BDA Auditor Andy Frogley was assigned to complete the audits and immediately made contact to arrange site visits.

Auditing of Marriott’s entire on-site drilling staff was undertaken within a single week, with three full crews and three individual audits completed in an efficient, thorough manner, with as little disruption to the operative’s workflow as possible. Any non-conformities that were noted by the auditor were swiftly resolved by Marriott’s dedicated plant and office teams, with regular communication between auditee, employer and auditor enabling fast resolutions to be sought.

From Marriott’s initial application being received, to the payment of invoice, to the site visit and then finally the BDA Audit cards being awarded to the successful drilling operatives, the entire process took less than 21 days.

This efficient process was only possible with employer, auditee, auditor and audit management all working collaboratively to ensure works were completed as expected and on time, however it is a perfect demonstration of the increased response times that the BDA Audit team are now capable of achieving.

The BDA Audit team are able to react very quickly to companies who require audits fast and can normally carry out single audits within five days of the completion of the registration procedure. The BDA have approved auditors scattered around the country for fast response times and can even cover nightshift audits if required (addition costs may apply). In this specific case Marriott required a fast turnaround to meet their client’s expectations and the BDA Audit team were happy to fulfil their demands. This was due to the willingness from both parties to work together get the audit visits completed swiftly and resolve minor issues rapidly.

Ian Kerr, Marriott’s Operations Manager, commented after the audits were completed: “From our perspective, the process was painless, completed quickly, and the whole audit team were very accommodating throughout”.

The take-home and clearly illustrated here is that a committed organisation to the Audit, from the top down not only makes the audit process painless, but also fast, efficient and cost effective. The BDA Audit team is at its best if all the preparatory work such as paperwork and highlighting site locations, is done in advance as required.

Should you require Audits fast then please visit the BDA website and complete the registration forms for a single operative or a single crew. If you have multiple audits, please contact the audit team via email on audit@britishdrillingassociation.co.uk or call on 0800 0385 969 to book in your audit today.