Busting Myths About RISAS
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RISAS certification should mean that I never see another National Incident Report (NIR) raised about this supplier’s products or services.
This is not necessarily the case.
A RISAS certificate is evidence that an independent, robust, rigorous, and transparent assessment of the supplier has taken place, by experts. The supplier will have had to demonstrate how they meet requirements, not just ‘on paper’ but by ‘walking the talk’.
The assessments are challenging. Suppliers who do enough for their products and services to be awarded RISAS certification are likely to be the best performers in the marketplace. Rail vehicles they work on are less likely to encounter defects than those without the benefits of a rigorous assessment under RISAS.
However, this doesn’t mean rail vehicles will be immune from safety-related defects altogether. It will still be possible for NIRs to be raised in relation to vehicles that may have undergone work on a relevant service by a RISAS-certified supplier.
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When an NIR is raised about a RISAS-certified supplier, the RISAS won’t take any action.
This is not the case.
There is a formalised mechanism for controlled feedback and resolution of customer issues when NIRs are raised about RISAS-certified suppliers.
It’s important to note that a NIR may be raised in good faith, but the underlying cause may emerge as having nothing to do with the vehicle’s maintenance history, the work undertaken on it, or RISAS.
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There is no (or little) difference between RISAS supplier certification and RISQS supplier qualification, except for the price.
The RISAS and RISQS schemes offer the opportunity to reduce duplication and costs associated with supplier assurance in official rail industry schemes. However, the RISAS and RISQS schemes offer different types of assurance in proportion with the supply chain risk involved.
Companies will need to apply the Rail Industry Standard on Supplier Assurance (RIS-2750-RST) (or an equivalent approach) to meet legal requirements for managing supply chain risk. This RIS sets out what companies need to do and explains how different levels of risk will require corresponding levels of intervention. This may include the use of schemes like RISAS and RISQS.
RISQS
By being registered and qualified for the relevant product codes on RISQS, suppliers can be identified and shortlisted by buyers from the RISQS web portal. This removes the potential duplication of effort in auditing.RISAS
The RISAS scheme provides suppliers with certification for safety-critical products and services. It generates higher levels of supplier assurance, in keeping with the higher risk. This involves a deep-dive assessment which goes beyond a conventional audit. It’s much more invasive and challenging. -
There are no customers asking for RISAS certification as a pre-condition for suppliers.
This is not the case.
Companies will need to apply the RIS on Supplier Assurance (RIS-2750-RST), or an equivalent approach, to meet legal requirements for managing supply chain risk. The RIS sets out what companies need to do and explains how different levels of risk will require corresponding levels of intervention.
Where companies are procuring critical products and services, they will need to ensure suppliers meet challenging standards. This may be via RISAS, as the only rail industry scheme in this field to provide the high levels of assurance required.
Where buyers don’t specify RISAS, they will need to do the equivalent amount of homework to assure themselves that the supplier is fit and capable of delivering those products and services safely.
However, RISAS provides buyers with the benefit of doing that thorough assessment via a third party, which reduces or eliminates the need for them to do their own assessment. So, RISAS is an attractive option for buyers, and why they are likely to expect it from suppliers of safety-critical products and services.
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Nobody who is RISAS certified can say what business benefits being certified has actually brought them.
RISAS provides clear benefits to certified suppliers. This is especially so where buyers are specifying RISAS as a requirement to do business. Without RISAS, suppliers may risk being overlooked or have to spend extra time, money, and effort to provide the equivalent level of assurance to buyers.
Many companies promote their RISAS certification with pride and raise awareness through media channels when certificates are awarded.
Case studies of companies who have benefited from RISAS certification are available on the RSSB website from Northern and ZF Services.
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No customers are willing to state and commit to reducing their audit intensity or frequency of my facility if I were to achieve RISAS certification.
Buyers may still need to do some auditing and assessing of their own, even when a supplier has a RISAS certificate. This may be because the work is not fully covered by the RISAS certificate in question, or to satisfy additional assurance that wouldn’t be covered by RISAS.
However, this should only really be because of a gap analysis and be at a much lower effort and intensity. Essentially, the RISAS certificate should cover a great deal of what’s required.
To avoid unnecessary cost and effort for all parties involved it is worth challenging buyers about whether extra auditing is genuinely required if you hold a RISAS certificate.
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It’s difficult for companies to trust a RISAS certificate because the assessment details are kept confidential between the assessor and the company being assessed.
The beauty of RISAS is that the assessments are conducted independently by accredited experts, who in turn are assessed regularly by RSSB to retain that accreditation. Obtaining a RISAS certificate is challenging, and it is in everyone’s interests that companies can trust in their value. We take pride in our expertise. It simply wouldn’t be in our interests to ‘go easy’. That would instantly devalue the scheme and reduce their ability to be trusted as assessors for RISAS and other programmes and initiatives.
Deep-dive assessments can uncover facts that do not reflect the ethos or intention of the suppliers concerned (put simply, could embarrass them). It’s only fair that suppliers investing in correcting and enhancing their capabilities are not shown up—these are companies getting better not worse.
If a company meets the standard required for a RISAS certificate, it means they have proven their capability at a high level. Any issues and improvement opportunities found on the way effectively become irrelevant.