At Ethical Power, we always prioritise safety of our operations and quality of the work we deliver. Since securing the contract for the construction of the 55MWp Fundici solar park near Seville, all our teams have been busy with preliminary works, optimisation and design engineering, surveys and more. Quality management systems are more important than ever to ensure we deliver to the highest standard while also maintaining efficiency in all that we do.
The importance of ISO accreditation
The ISO 9001:2015 certificate is an internationally-recognised standard that places a much greater emphasis on how quality runs through the business as a whole – identifying all stakeholders, the risks that our business may face and considering the structure of the management system and involvement of the leadership team. In this way it supports a work culture focused on quality at every step.
Other companies within the Ethical Power Group hold the relevant ISO certificates already and Ethical Power Spain is swiftly going to follow.
The certification journey
Obtaining the ISO 9001:2015 certification (or any of the ISO accreditations for that matter!) is a long process and only the best in the business will endeavour to secure it. We defined 4 stages of works to help us achieve the certificate:
Phase 1:
- Write up of the Quality Management System Manual and Procedures specific to our operations in Spain.
- Roll out of ISO 9001 training across the Ethical Power Spain Team to understand the ISO 9001 requirements.
- Roll out of ISO 9001 leadership training to the Senior Management Team.
Phase 2:
- Management Review to set the company quality KPIs, including non-conformances, customer feedback, internal and external audits, potential issues affecting the QMS and interested parties, continual improvement activities, etc.
Phase 3:
- Gap analysis to be completed by a 3rd party consultant to verify the conformity of our QMS. Close out of actions raised during the gap analysis.
Phase 4:
- Certification and Stage 2 Certification Audit by Bureau Veritas
Throughout the whole process, we will be working on improving knowledge and understanding of the management systems and developing processes and procedures to support our work.
Having completed the ISO certification process with many companies in my career and seeing the outputs and standards of current systems, I am confident that we will achieve the relevant certifications in due course.
Next steps for Ethical Power Spain QHSE
Getting our Quality Management System (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 Standard sets the foundations of the Integrated Management System (IMS) that we are pursuing to have in place by 2024.
The IMS will include the ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System).
When the management system of Ethical Power Spain becomes more mature, we will pursue the addition of the ISO 50001 (Energy Management System) and the ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System) to our Integrated Management System by 2026.
At Ethical Power, we foster a collaborative approach to work and developing the right processes and procedures to support the ISO certification will help us engage all team members even more: working across departments, sharing knowledge and implementing positive change. We’re in a great position to be embarking on this journey with expertise in house and an eager and focused team.
About Francisco Dominguez
Francisco Dominguez is the QHSE Director at Ethical Power Spain. He has more than 15 years of experience working for international organisations across various industries including nuclear, renewables and metallurgy. In solar space, he´s led the implementation of QHSE Management Systems for the construction of more than 30 power plants worldwide, adding up to a total of more than 3,146 MWp, of which 650Mwp are PV power plants and 2,560 MWp are thermosolar power plants. He remains the most qualified QHSE professional in Spain as a Chartered Quality Professional by CQI, Chartered Member of IOSH, Fellow Member of IIRSM, Full Member of IEMA, Chartered Environmentalist, IRCA Certified Lead Auditor (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 14064, 50001) and Lean Six Sigma Champion Master Black Belt.
About Ethical Power Spain
Ethical Power Spain was established in April 2022 with headquarters in Madrid. Since then, its expert Design and Engineering team has completed 6 design engineering contracts for various renewables developer companies in Spain. In November 2022, Ethical Power Spain signed a contract with Encavis AG for the EPC package of works on the 50MWp Fundici solar park in Guillena, Sevilla, Spain. Phase 1 of the works is due to begin in February with project energisation expected in Q3-2023.