New Assurance Group sharpens CIE compliance management

“Bringing all the information from core assurance frameworks together in our new Assurance Group means getting on top of incidents and risky situations, thereby improving our position to pre-empt them,” says National Operations Manager Robin Benefield.

The Assurance Group was set up in February to ensure an integrated approach to compliance management. It also helps maintain the integrity, quality and effectiveness of CIE’s assurance and monitoring activities.

Both operational managers and sector managers take part in the group to raise awareness of issues and improve the flow of information so that steps to rectify situations can be taken more effectively.

Remedial action
“We can assess findings of operational and Health and Safety investigations and provide a consistent national approach, instead of letting the same thing happen time after time in different business sectors throughout the country,” says Robin.

“An example of this is when a serious accident in a joinery occurs, the Assurance Group shares the findings of the accident investigation. This means that these findings can be used to prevent similar occurences in other joineries throughout the country.”

Risk Management
The Assurance Group continually assesses standards, policies
and assurance frameworks, for example in the area of Risk Management. “As CIE relies on external customers it is important to be aware of the economic environment,” says Robin.

“An example is the fluctuation in commodity prices and the resultant impact on CIE. An internal example is the decreasing number of low security prisoners available to work outside the secure perimeter which affects CIE work crews’ ability to meet business needs. Having the collective knowledge of the key people in one group makes
the difference in managing such risks.”

Following this overview, future issues of CIE News will provide more information on different aspects of the Assurance Group’s focus, such as:

• Health and Safety and the ACC Audit
• peer reviewing
• internal control checks
• risk management.