Newsletter July 2008
Times are a Changing
Because here, Times are changing!
Hosted Solution going live in July
The London Borough of Hounslow (LBH) have now confirmed their upgrade to the ToolKit Compliance System with an order for more users and more significantly, to use our Hosted Solution. LBH have, like most local authorities, been through many changes recently. Changes to the way they work, changes to their management structure, changes to their expectations of IT solutions.
We would like to think that we have helped LBH to realise better expectations of their IT. We have done this by providing an in-house working relationship that started well before the initial purchase of ToolKit from us in 2001. This has continued right through the business analysis of their CDM procedures which led to recommendations for change and the current upgrade order. The upgrade means that their overstretched IT department will have less to support. All the ToolKit CS™ database management, automated updates, new releases, and hardware management will be done by Ai Solutions. This will minimise LBH's dependence on their IT personnel and ultimately their budgets because we sell an inclusive package.
Customer Reviews
Every so often, it is our pleasure to ask our customers for their comments on our products and services. We have in the past few days received several responses including the quote here from one of our more recent customers.
"I have been working with Ai Solutions for about a year now, developing this Council's strategy for compliance with the CDM 2007 Regulations. The ToolKit software they have developed is extremely versatile and easy to use and can be integrated into existing systems. The training and support they have provided has proved excellent. The team at Ai are knowledgeable, helpful and responsive to the needs of their client. I look forward to continuing my relationship with Ai Solutions in the coming years."
Stuart Wood, London Borough of Islington
We will make all of the quotes available on our web site in due course. If you have one to add, please let us know; especially if it is as good as this one!
Bradford Metropolitan District Council go Live
The story about Bradford MDC has been told a few times now; it is another story of how 'times are a changing'. In essence, this very large authority manages all their CDM processes through one dedicated department. The department has evolved over the past 10 years or so since they acquired an early version of ToolKit from us. It is now part of the Asset Management team and they came to us a while ago asking for some enhancements to ToolKit. We developed a solution for them which became the foundation of the Structures Module in ToolKit CS.
In the past few weeks, Bradford have gone live with their new 'Health & Safety File On-Line' service to their approximately 320 local schools. The feedback we are getting from users, including their architects, is really good. The architects are "very impressed with how accessible information in ToolKit CS is".
What is extraordinary about this story is that it took one small department many years to fathom out the solution to some very complicated problems; extraordinary because they kept the faith and kept on going! Now that they are in the relative 'sunshine' with the solution, their progress has been dramatic and very successful.
This is a great example of how working together can provide results including financial benefits, which Bradford readily recognised and engaged in.
CPD Training sessions for our Clients
We get involved with CPD training from time to time. If I am honest, we are too often disappointed by poor and inappropriate attendance at what could be valuable training sessions. However, we are rising to new challenges right now and are looking forward to opportunities to spread the word about ToolKit and our success stories to larger organisations.
Our theme is Working Together and promoting the benefits of sharing CDM - or asbestos - management information and project detail across departments and across contracting organisations. If you have an interest in these issues, please contact us and let's get talking.
Bletchley Park Petition
Many of our readers know about Bletchley Park; we have held several conferences there. Personally, I hold the Park in high regard. It's achievements during the Second World War years were unreservedly, amazing. It's place in history should, if there is anything fair about our society, be assured.
The fact is, life isn't fair. There is every chance that the bulldozers will win at Bletchley Park and this pocket of our heritage will disappear forever. Please see the attached link and register your support for what we believe is a really worthwhile petition.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BletchleyPark/ (deadline is 2009 note)
http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ (Bletchley Park Site)
More Information
We regularly receive updates from our customers and contacts about changes to legislation, the latest rumours and so on. We try to be selective with what we pass on and acknowledge our sources as appropriate. If you have information of general interest in the Health & Safety, and particularly, CDM and Asbestos Management arena, then please let us know by e-mail if possible.