It's our ISO9001 and ISO27001 recertification week where we focus on Quality and Information Security

It seems like Catherine has been preparing for months for our ISO9001:2015 and ISO27001:2013  recertifications.  This week, she's been working non-stop with ISO assessor Chris and our ISO consultant Kieran alongside our Telford team to provide evidence of our conformance to the standards.

Catherine, Chris and Kieran

Keeping our ISO certifications is a long and costly process, so why do we put ourselves through it?

ISO9001 has been the bedrock of our business since we started trading.  ISO9001 is a measure of an organisation's Quality Management System, essentially a guarantee that a company will work in an orderly, consistent and measured way.   Our software is used by hundreds of organisations every day and they rely on us to provide a consistent service.  Our Support Desk has never been busier, handling more than 1,000 tickets each month and we aim to deal with each one in a timely and professional manner.

ISO27001 ensures that we treat data and information within our custody with appropriate care and diligence.  It is an internationally recognised standard relating to Information Security specifically and there are not many companies of our size who have spent the time and money necessary to obtain the certification.

We won't know until the end of the week whether any non-conformances have been found, so please do wish us luck!

Meet Melika! She is half-way through her work experience with Start Software

We're giving Melika a month's work experience to help start her career in software development.

Team Leader Dan helping Melika

Melika is based in Glasgow, but has taken the leap to move to Telford for the month to embed herself in our team, and see how we build software for our clients.  She's been looking at asbestos software Alpha Tracker, ecological report-writing system ecoScribe and some of our other software products.

She is also helping out on Support, too, so do say hello and make her welcome if you call in and Melika picks up the phone.  She's the only one in our office with a Scottish accent so won't have a problem spotting her!

October saw another 1,000+ tickets on the Support Desk

October 2024 was another 1,000 ticket month - 1,167 to be precise.  Zac, Jamie & Lucas were joined by Melika this month, helping customers using our apps to get the most from their software.

6 months of Support Desk performance

Performance dropped slightly but was still good.  94% of high-priority tickets were answered on time compared to 91% of all tickets.

Time flies! We're celebrating 5 years of being a Living Wage employer

It's 5 years since Start Software became a Living Wage Employer.  We're as proud of that fact today as we were back in 2019.

Find out more at www.livingwage.org.uk

The real Living Wage is based on the real cost of living and is voluntarily paid by more than 15,000 UK employers.  It's calculated independently each year and these are the latest rates:

If your company hasn't explored the benefits of joining the movement and becoming a Living Wage Employer, we urge you to take a look.  Visit www.livingwage.org.uk for more info.

New feature in the Water Hygiene Client Portal - temperature and flushing records

Your clients can now record temperature and flushing records live in the Alpha Tracker Client Portal for Water Hygiene.

Another new Alpha Tracker feature

There are more Water Hygiene (Legionella) updates on the way - keep an eye on the Alpha Tracker blog for more details.  Or let us know what changes you'd like to see - we love to hear from our wonderful Alpha Tracker family!

Asbestos in UK schools - read about the future impact on lives from the latest JUAC report

The Daily Mail has published a story on the front page about the forthcoming "tsunami of deaths" from asbestos-related disease. 

The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC) has published a report - "What Is The Real Risk From Asbestos In Schools?" - following an investigation by unions representing heads, teachers and support staff.  The report has concluded that hundreds of thousands of staff, exposed to asbestos in their schools, are predicated to die from mesothelioma.

The Daily Mail front page today

Journalists Steve Boggan and Chris Pollard have continued their previous work at The Times and elsewhere to initiate a new campaign through the Daily Mail.  The aim of the campaign is to strip asbestos from all public buildings - starting with schools and hospitals.

Here at Start Software, we produced our own report in 2023 called "Damage: The Poor Condition of Asbestos in our Schools, Hospitals & Houses" - which used data from more than 3 million asbestos samples from asbestos software Alpha Tracker.  Our report was launched at the Houses of Parliament with asbestos campaigners and Sir Stephen Timms, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee.

Read our Damage asbestos report here

We're updating our report in time for the December 2024 European Asbestos Forum in Brussels.  Liz Darlison from Mesothelioma UK will be delivering a presentation about asbestos in UK schools and our updated report will be available for all EAF participants.

Finally, the Daily Mail's campaign is also proposing a national online database of every non-domestic building that contains asbestos - something that we have supported for many years.

Visit OpenAsbestos.org to find out more

Our OpenAsbestos asbestos data sharing protocol was built with this in mind and our long-term support for UKNAR - the UK National Asbestos Register - demonstrates our commitment here at Alpha Tracker.