Quality guaranteed

Carmelita Troy, Rubicon's Quality and Compliance Manager

Rubicon's Quality and Compliance Manager CARMELITA TROY discusses the process of achieving ISO Certification​

​On my return to work from maternity leave in September 2020, Rubicon’s Senior Management Team approached me to  take on a role in Quality Management. I was genuinely intrigued and interested as my basic understanding of QM at the time was that its premise was rooted in consistency. Since then, I have come to learn that indeed consistency is a core principle, but also communication, compliance, and structure are all vital elements to its success. 

In order to take on my new role, Rubicon provided me with  training in QQI Level 6 Certificate in Quality Management. I received the required training from a Quality Management Consultancy – QMS Solutions via Microsoft Teams due to COVID-19 restrictions. This course introduced me to a whole new world of management systems and ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation). It was Rubicon’s wish to implement an Integrated Management System (IMS) in three ISO standards – Quality (ISO 9001:2015), Environmental (ISO 14001:2015) and Occupational Health & Safety (ISO 45001:2018) to ensure the provision of high quality, sustainable, and safe services in both archaeological projects and heritage consultancy to all our stakeholders. I was tasked with taking our existing management system and upgrading it to an ISO standard IMS for certification through an external audit by DQS GmbH, which Rubicon achieved in June 2021. 

Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd has achieved Quality Management ISO 9001:2015, Environmental Management ISO 14001:2015 and Occupational Health and Safety Management ISO 45001:2018

From my training, I’ve learnt that identifying, planning, and managing risk are essential components in the IMS. Quality, environmental, health and safety considerations are accounted for, and a system is in place to avoid risk events and deal with eventualities to minimise impact. Rubicon’s IMS demands high standards of our own organisation, but it also requires it of our suppliers and subcontractors who all contribute to our delivery of a high-quality service. The IMS ensures that all personnel who are performing a duty for, and on behalf of Rubicon, are compliant. 

Quality Management Certificate

As Rubicon’s Quality & Compliance Manager, I am now responsible for maintaining our ISO certified IMS, implementing an audit program, training staff in the IMS, assisting the development of company processes and procedures, quality control on documents, facilitating tender quality submissions, and supporting the Human Resources and Procurement Management functions.  

ISO Certification guarantees quality across all facets of our business.

I look forward to being part of the emerging shift away from the ‘race to the bottom’ in price, to a preference and emphasis in quality demanded by our clients. Our ISO certifications recognise the strength of our IMS and provide our clients with clear and certain assurance of the quality of delivery across all aspects of our services. As the first archaeological contractor in Ireland and the UK to achieve certifications for all three ISO standards together, all at Rubicon relish the challenge to improving our IMS year-on-year for the function of our own organisation, our clients, and in preparation for our annual ISO surveillance audits. 

​Our tag line is ‘Managing Risk, Delivering Quality’ - this is now a guarantee rather than a promise! ​