Stu McInroy, Chief Executive of the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA), discusses the reasons why his organisation is using the National Highways Sector Scheme (NHSS) #7 Document to help raise standards and safety in the sector.
Earlier this year the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) made changes to its constitution. All road marking member companies of the RSMA are now required to hold a current Certificate of Registration verifying that they operate a Quality Management System that complies with BS EN ISO 9001 and the National Highways Sector Scheme (NHSS) #7 Document. The certificate must be issued by a United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme (UKAS) accredited certifying body.
NHSS #7 is one of the series of National Highway Sector Schemes developed as bespoke integrated management schemes within an ISO 9001 framework to provide particular requirements and applications to infrastructure related activity within the UK. It is overseen by a Sector Scheme Advisory Committee (SSAC) comprising representatives from:
- Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport
- Department for Transport
- Highways England
- Road Safety Markings Association
- SGS UK (Lead Certification Body)
- Transport NI
- Transport Scotland (Corresponding Member)
- Welsh Assembly (Corresponding Member).
The SSAC determines the specification for ISO 9001 in relation to the requirements of their particular activity and comes to a consensus on the standards of workmanship, services, products, testing, and the training and competency of personnel. The Committee will also identify specification requirements with respect to environmental, health & safety and welfare.
The reason RSMA members voted to make compliance with NHSS #7 a requirement for membership can be described by one word – PROFESSIONALISM.
The training and assessment elements that comprise NHSS #7 together with ISO 9001 aim to:
- Provide an industry benchmark
- Identify risks and opportunities
- Ensure that all processes are planned
- Provide a basis for continual improvement
- Focus on quality as an objective
- Reduce costs for clients and organisation
- Provide and maintain a properly trained and competent workforce
- Involve all sides of industry in scheme ownership within a partnership framework
- Provide the basis for the technical knowledge and experience that Certification Body auditors will use in the sector concerned
- Promote confidence in quality management systems through provision of a robust transparent system.
NHSS #7 training and assessment comprises three key elements:
Specialist Applied Skills Programme (SAP): Employers register all new operatives with no previous road marking experience to the SAP. The SAP (until the changes brought about by the creation of Trailblazers it was known as the Road Marking Apprenticeship) is an 18 month course comprising four weeks of in-house training at the RSMA and ‘on the job’ skills development undertaken by the candidate’s employer.
NVQ: Operatives with previous road marking experience are required to obtain an NVQ (Level 2) relevant to their area of activity within three years of commencement of employment; failure to obtain the relevant NVQ renders the operative unqualified for the activity and not conforming to the requirements of the NHSS #7.
Operatives Refresher and Assessment Scheme (ORAS): All operatives are required to complete ORAS prior to the fourth anniversary of achieving NVQ (Level 2) in road marking and road studding. All qualified operatives are subsequently required to complete ORAS on a four year cycle in order to demonstrate the currency and validity of their core competencies.
The RSMA decision to make NHSS #7 a pre-requisite for membership ensures that all road marking member companies operate to the highest level of professional standards. However, the RSMA Executive Committee and the NHSS #7 Committee are mindful that such action, if it is to be effective, cannot be achieved in isolation. The industry’s desire to increase professionalism, raise standards and improve safety must be supported by those individuals responsible for contracting road marking companies and underpinned by UKAS accredited certifying bodies.
Highways England (HE) and Transport for London (TfL) lead the way in mandating NHSS #7 compliance within contracts, but it is anomalous that whereas road marking contractors working on the strategic road network and the majority of the TfL network must be NHSS #7 certified, no similar requirement exists across the local authority road network or private works.
The RSMA recognises the financial challenges experienced by local authorities and private clients, but only by shifting the emphasis away from ‘cheap’ to ‘value for money’ and mandating and enforcing NHSS #7 within a road marking contract can clients gain the confidence that their requirements will be fulfilled to the highest standards in a safe environment. In not mandating road marking contractors to be NHSS #7 certified, local authorities and private clients have in the past failed to protect themselves against prosecution for engaging a contractor who has potentially endangered the public and exposed their client to unnecessary risk.
Only by local authorities and private clients adopting and enforcing contractual requirements similar to those employed by HE and TfL, will those road marking companies who put making a fast buck before the quality of their work, the safety of their workforce and the risk transferred to/borne by their client, seek to change the way they operate. There is no grey area, 200oC molten thermoplastic doesn’t know the difference between a motorway, a high street or a private car park; the consequences of mishandling it are the same, as are the life changing injuries that can result.
Certifying bodies are also pivotal to the RSMA desire of raising standards through NHSS #7. To ensure consistency and to demonstrate independent capability, they are required to be accredited against the requirements of UKAS for assessment and registration of ISO 9001:2015 quality management systems in accordance with the particular specifications of NHSS #7. Only by applying appropriate scrutiny to the requirements stated in the NHSS #7 Document and ensuring employers are able to evidence compliance with NHSS #7 when auditing road marking companies can we collectively raise standards and increase safety.
It is essential that those employers and employees completing the key works to deliver ‘once in a generation’ transformative change are appropriately trained and qualified, that works are completed properly and professionally, that the safety of the road user is maintained and the health and safety of the workforce employed on our roads remains paramount.