University Sector

Environmental Risk And Compliance Management For The Universities Sector

SMS provide compliance services to the University of Oxford, Bodleian Library - Roman Kirillov / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

Our approach to working with universities is to focus on building positive long-term partnerships.

Thanks to the additional protection SMS Environmental provides, I feel more assured that we are fully compliant, therefore I sleep well at night.

University of Reading - University Legionella Duty Holder

We understand, with students now paying more for studies and having more choice in which University to attend, the importance of the University to maintain a reputation. Therefore, the facilities within the buildings they use, irrespective of campus buildings or those where they live, all need to be kept in optimum condition and above all safe. Working collaboratively we will ensure all risks are minimised and that the University continues its duty of care in providing a safe working and studying environment for staff and students. As an experienced organisation and as a market leader in our sector, our focus is to ensure the University never fails to comply with legislation, and that regulations maintained in order to protect the reputation of the University. We take our responsibilities seriously so as to never impede the University’s ability to attract, retain and develop sufficient calibre of students and staff to maintain and grow their research reputation and income.

To assist in the management of Legionella control strategies, compliant with the Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L8, we have developed our own software, which is an integrated and important part of Legionella management. It offers an effective and robust process for maintaining audit trails and compliance for works and maintenance and records for buildings from start to finish. The system is fully auditable by way of reference numbers that are assigned to the tasks, quotations and invoicing. Opuz 12™ has the ability to control the entire work order process and can export comprehensive reports into PDF, Microsoft Word or Excel, presenting a detailed and clear picture of our activity. This can then be shared with the estates team responsible for campuses in order to continue to support academic endeavour and achievement and maintain their reputation to the students and governance structure.

We are the UK’s first full-service water treatment provider to achieve UKAS accreditation to ISO 17020 for Legionella Risk Assessments. As such, we have more experience than most, and as a UKAS-accredited company, our services are regularly audited and the governance provides independent assurance that our people are competent in providing accurate and impartial risk assessments as well as the advice we give.

We believe it sets us apart from our competitors and allows us to compete with larger organisations. UKAS accreditation can also highlight gaps in capability, thereby providing an opportunity for improved organisational efficiency and outputs, all of which is shared with our clients for an overall improved efficiency in methods of working.