MOD and BSI: working together to combat COVID-19

In the initial stages of a pandemic, every minute matters. The nation’s response to the emergency has to be rapid, and critical workers need relevant information at their fingertips in order to make the right decisions.

In the highly pressured early days of the pandemic, one MOD worker spotted an opportunity to make it easier for essential workers to access the standards they needed. The simple but effective solution made a real difference to people at the forefront of the nation’s pandemic response.

Standards: the unsung heroes of safety

Standards save lives every day, but it’s not always easy to identify where the difference is made; you can’t pinpoint the person who escapes being electrocuted by a hair dryer because of electrical safety standards, or the person who gets to work in one piece because of road safety standards.

However, in the urgent conditions at the start of the pandemic, the life-saving role of standards was made clear. For example, the BSI Kitemark Certification for face coverings has helped to ensure that face coverings are as effective as possible. Another example, PAS 45005 set out guidelines for safe working during the pandemic. The PAS was developed in just three months to provide rapid guidance on best practice to minimize risk.

Surge in searches

The MOD accesses standards through BSI’s BSOL platform, carrying out a search to identify relevant documents, checking they are up to date then registering to download the standard. This procedure works well in usual times, but in the pandemic larger volumes of people needed to access a limited set of standards, which resulted in frequent searches for the same standards.

The problem: time wasted in searching for standards

Many MOD personnel were seconded to support the pandemic effort, taking up roles in areas such as logistics, procurement of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) and business continuity. Many of these workers were operating in areas that were unfamiliar to them and they required standards to support their work. For example, ensuring PPE supplies met the relevant standard was hugely important, and it was very common for stock to fail quality tests.

Alan Anderson is IT Operations Manager in UK Defence Standardization (DStan) with responsibility for managing the MOD’s BSI membership. He noticed that many MOD workers would benefit from easier access to standards. Although MOD departments circulated lists of relevant standards, workers still had to individually log on, search for documents, register and download. All this was taking up precious time, when considered across the entire organization.

The solution: building a one-stop shop for standards

Once Alan Anderson recognised that individuals within the MOD would benefit from improved access to standards, it was not too challenging to find a solution. Working closely with his BSI contact Theresa Gall, Alan developed the COVID-19 Standards Collection, a dedicated site within BSOL where MOD users could access grouped standards more easily. Relevant standards were divided into four groups: hygiene; PPE; risk management and business continuity; and ventilator standards.

Getting the word out

Building the solution to the problem was not the biggest challenge for Alan – getting the word out that the facility existed and could benefit users was much trickier. MOD email groups were used to inform users that standards could be accessed through a central point and that this could save time that could be used for other vital work.

With continued communications work to highlight the facility, the idea was adopted by MOD workers.

In March 2020, the one-stop shop saw five downloads of standards; the following month of April 2020 saw 237 downloads.

After further development, the site now has 94 unique standards, 293 unique users across 149 MOD departments and 1145 individual standard downloads. Alan’s team collected data to show how standards were being used, using this information to support communications and increase awareness in a virtuous circle.

The most downloaded standards were:
1. BS EN 149:2001+A1:2009 Respiratory protective devices. Filtering half masks to protect against particles. Requirements, testing, marking
2. BS EN 14683: 2019 Medical face masks. Requirements and test methods
3. BS EN 14126:2003 Protective Clothing. Performance requirements and test methods for protective clothing against infective agents
4. BS EN 13795-1:2019 Surgical clothing and drapes. Requirements and test methods. Surgical drapes and gowns.
5. BS EN 166:2002 Personal eye protection. Specifications

Feedback from users underlines how valuable the COVID-19 Standards Collection is.

One worker from the COVID-19 Response Team said: “Tasked to review submissions relating to PPE/MDR for items such as face masks, respirators, surgical gowns, gloves and goggles and being able to access the necessary standards has enabled the teams to identify and weed out submissions where the product offered did not meet UK/EU standards. If we did not have access to these standards, we would not have been able to carry out the necessary level of diligence.”

 Making a difference

Alan Anderson says that his experience of building the platform underlined how identifying problems and finding solutions can be a powerful tool for improvement. Alan said: “I might be just a small cog in a huge engine, but by me doing my little bit, that was enough for everyone else to do their jobs far more efficiently.

“That’s what I would pass onto other BSI members – no matter how small you think your role is, it can have a major impact on other people. Just identify how you can make an improvement.”

The team from Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), the procurement arm of the MOD, was recognised by BSI within the Special 2020 Edition BSI Standards Awards, with UK Defence Standardization being singled out for providing a platform that saved valuable time for people doing critical work within the UK’s COVID-19 response.

Could more efficient use of standards help you emulate the MOD’s success in your own business? Talk to the BSI team today to see how we can help.