Encore Passes ISO45001 with Flying Colours

For the 4th year running, Encore has secured its ISO 45001 accreditation following a successful audit with 100% compliance.

Confirming the accreditation, the ISO made numerous positive observations about our approach to Health and Safety. In particular, the accreditors highlighted our:

• Health and Safety leadership, with our clear accountability, roles and organisational stance on key factors.
• Planning, including our ability to identify risk and outline how to control those risks when they do arise.
• Comprehensive internal Health and Safety audit schedule and framework, and complementary software systems, that enable us to effectively monitor hazards across all properties that we manage.
• Commitment to continuous improvement, as we demonstrated making improvements at every opportunity.

ISO 45001 is a global standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems that provides a practical solution to improve the safety and health of both employees and other personnel - including, in the case of Encore, residents and contractors.

With ISO 45001 in place, residents, clients and contractors can be assured Encore has been independently assessed as having a comprehensive Health & Safety policy and practices. This means that confidence can be had in our safe work procedures and risk assessments, and that we rigorously audit our practices to ensure safety is always our priority.

If non-conformances arise – for example, if a building or structure no longer complies with new fire and building safety legislation – we've been able to prove that we can effectively address the issues.

Securing ISO 45001 each year isn’t a simple process of repeating what we’ve done in the past.

The process is rigorous, beginning with a full-day meeting where ISO assessors thoroughly work their way through their schedule of requirements. Throughout the assessment they are looking for demonstrations of compliance and documentation, which are scrutinised in the meeting and then in the weeks that follow.

But it doesn’t stop there: assessors look for evidence of continual improvements, meaning we must set the bar higher every year for the health and safety standards we set, and meet.

That has meant, for us to achieve this latest ISO accreditation, in the last year we have:

• Kept low the number of health and safety, and fire, risks across the whole of our portfolio
• Achieved 97% of risk assessments completed on time.
• Established our Health and Safety Steering Group, which has particularly focussed on reducing potential risks identified across our portfolio, whilst also introducing a lone worker protection solution for the security of our staff when visiting our estates.
• Introduced our new Learning Management System, which has allowed for effective, accessible training for team members in:
  • General health and safety
  • Fire safety made easy
  • Legionella and water hygiene
  • Swimming pool procedures

ISO 45001 is another mark of our dedication to the highest levels of professionalism when it comes to Health and Safety, as Encore CEO, Joaquim Fillola explains:

“We’re committed to being leaders in our industry in Health and Safety, and Fire Safety management. That means we need to meet our objectives - taking care of estates as if we lived there ourselves - all whilst prioritising the safety of the residents and ensuring cost efficiency and value at every step.

“This latest ISO accreditation, with multiple positive observations and zero actions for us to take, is testament to the robustness of our Health and Safety practices. It signifies we’re meeting exceptional standards for health and safety, delivering a service that gives residents, clients, employees and contractors peace of mind.”