RISQS Accreditation Guide

Preview: this guide is being reviewed by Harcon Solutions and content may change.

Stage 8 of 8: Maintain

RISQS does not end when the audit is complete.

Assurance is a continuing cycle, not a one-off documentation exercise.

Assurance is a cycle

A successful audit shows that your arrangements were working at that point. Buyers rely on them continuing to work. Treat the audit as one point in a continuing cycle of planning, doing, checking and improving, not as the end of a documentation exercise.

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Harcon's illustrative maintain framework

The topics below are Harcon's illustrative maintain framework: areas an organisation may need to keep under review after initial assessment and audit. Which of them apply, and how often, depends on your scope and the requirements that apply to you.

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Keeping your assurance current

  • Maintaining management arrangements

    Keep policies, procedures and roles current as your business, your people and the rules change.

  • Continued evidence generation

    Keep producing records as a normal part of work, so evidence is always current rather than assembled before an audit.

  • Competence management

    Track competence expiry and refresher needs, and check competence before people are deployed.

  • Standards changes

    Monitor changes to railway standards, RISQS requirements and legislation, and update your arrangements when they change.

  • Internal audits

    Check, on a planned basis, that your arrangements are followed and still effective.

  • Management reviews

    Review performance at senior level and decide what needs to change.

  • Corrective actions

    Close actions from audits, incidents and reviews, and confirm that the fixes have worked.

  • Changes to business scope

    Review your RICCL codes and arrangements when you change what you do.

  • Renewal and re-assessment

    Plan for membership renewal and recurring audits, where they apply to you.

  • Railway-specific arrangements

    Keep arrangements such as Sentinel, fatigue, and drugs and alcohol current, where they apply to you.

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Renewal and re-assessment

For suppliers subject to audit, the RISQS Scheme Rules describe a three-year audit cycle: an initial audit, then two annual surveillance audits, then a full re-assessment in the third year. Membership renewal is separate from this audit cycle.

Sources: .

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When your business changes

If you add products or services, start new types of work or change how you operate, check whether your RISQS scope, and the arrangements behind it, need to change too.

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Guidance on this page last reviewed: .