Sibelco UK provides advanced industrial minerals to customers throughout the world across a broad range of industries including ceramics, glass, foundry, sports & leisure and paper. As part of the multinational Sibelco Group they add real value to their customers' businesses through a combination of premium quality products, technical support and environmental leadership.

The challenge

As part of its commitment to a safe and healthy working environment for its people, Sibelco UK has established a comprehensive health & safety management system with all of its UK sites externally certified by Lucideon (formally known as CICS) to the OHSAS 18001:1999 specification in addition to ISO 14001:2004 (environment) and ISO 9001:2008 (quality). Integral to this initiative has been appointing ‘Safety Champions' at its twelve sites and giving them the responsibility of doing internal audits. To equip staff with the skills they need to carry out the audits, Sibelco asked Lucideon to provide management systems training.

What we delivered

Lucideon developed a customised 'Internal Auditor' course for Sibelco covering, over three separate sessions, the role of an auditor, how to prepare for and conduct an audit, and the key elements of audit reporting. The course had a strong focus on participant involvement with attendees sharing best practice between them and, in order to make the course as practical as possible, attendees were asked to do their own internal audit. A review of these formed the basis of the last session, allowing participants to learn from real-life examples.

Value to the client

Andy Price, Integrated Systems Manager, at Sibelco sums up what the participants got from the course and the value to the company:

"The training has given our safety participants all the skills they need to become confident and competent auditors. Unlike courses that we've done previously in this area with other providers, CICS' training has actually equipped them with the tools they need to do an audit. The delivery over the three days was excellent - there were no PowerPoints to sit through, just discussion and interaction between the group to share the learning experience.

"Having internal auditors who work with their peers means that everyone, from staff on the shop floor to senior management, is focused on continual improvement, which can only benefit our business."

Lucideon has also held a tailored course, an Introduction to the Principles of Auditing, in Brussels for Sibelco staff throughout Europe.