The Richmond Fellowship Scotland

The Richmond Fellowship Scotland (TRFS), established over 30 years ago, is a prominent charity dedicated to supporting a diversity of people across Scotland, who are affected by mental health challenges and require a broad spectrum of additional needs to live as independently as possible in their own homes, residential care and community outreach programmes.  

TRFS are the largest social care provider in Scotland, employing more than 2500 staff and working with 28 local authorities. 

Prior to 2020, TRFS was audited by British Safety Council (BSC) to 18001 standards but, like so many others, had to reschedule their audit programmes due to COVID; when they came to renew, they decided to work with BSC and try to attain the gold standard accreditation, the ISO 45001.  

ISO 45001 is justly recognised as the gold standard accreditation that can be achieved for Health and Safety and reflects the impact, comprehensiveness and robustness of health and safety culture, policies and processes, within an organisation. 

As TRFS Head of Health & Safety, Ross Hughes, explains, "Achieving ISO 45001 would be a significant milestone for TRFS. It would reflect our ongoing commitment to creating a safe environment for both our staff and the vulnerable individuals we care for.  

“Working with British Safety Council was such a smooth process. Even before they arrived on site for the audit, they had explained all about what the process was and broke it down into what was required and what we were going to do and what the expectations were. It was so good for us to know what information we had to have, what we had to provide in terms of evidence, because there is nothing worse than going in blind to a process like this.  

“So actually having good contacts with the first auditor before she came on-site was really helpful: we were completely ready to go on the day, due to the speed and ease of getting information in terms of what we needed to have in place. Collaborating closely with BSC made it a very smooth process.” 

TRFS’s existing Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHS MS) was ISO 18001-compliant but TRFS wanted to implement ISO 45001, a more modern and integrated approach to OHS MS. Engaging with British Safety Council helped them to achieve this. 

The key upgrades of the ISO 45001 approach include proactive approaches such as: the context of the organisation, leadership, worker participation, risk-based thinking, and continual improvement. ISO 45001 also aligns with ISO’s High-Level Structure principles allowing it to be easily integrated with other management systems.  

TRFS’s OHSMS documentation was reviewed, BSC undertook extensive discussions with TRFS’s Health and Safety team with observations, gaps and recommendations worked through collaboratively.  

On achieving the ISO 45001 mark, Ross Hughes says, “Honestly, this process has exceeded my expectations. Did I think that we would be here, sitting, talking about us being accredited so quickly and smoothly when we started the process? Possibly not - I thought it would have taken a lot longer than has. And that's due to the support from the auditors and our staff. 

Overall, it has been a fantastic experience. I had no idea about the expectations and for it to be explained to me comfortably by our account manager at BSC and then when the auditors came out and they were so nice and great at what they've done, them putting us all at ease … 
I don't want to say a simple process because it's not, but the way that everyone helped us through, it became a simple process.  

“I actually don’t feel that we would have got it [the ISO45001] without building this invaluable relationship. And now, having that banner of ISO 45001 saying ‘British Safety Council’, those three words, ‘British Safety Council’, are triggers for understanding that it's the best thing that we can get. 

“This accreditation not only helps us manage risks more effectively but also reassures our clients and their families that health and safety is at the heart of everything we do". 

TRFS Chief Executive, Austen Smyth, agrees, "A core vision of The Richmond Fellowship Scotland is to keep the people we support and our staff colleagues safe and well. This accreditation externally and independently evidences our commitment to Health and Safety".