Scour Prevention Systems Gets Quality Management System Accreditation

Lowestoft-based business Scour Prevention Systems Ltd (SPSL) has attained ISO 9001 accreditation for its Quality Management Systems from the British Standards Institute.

The company, based at the OrbisEnergy innovation centre, has developed an innovative and patented solution to remediate and eliminate scour around offshore structures and over cables, which is recognised as a significant problem across the offshore energy industries.

Scour is caused by the flow of water speeding up around or over an object, causing a hole to form in the seabed around the object, which gets progressively deeper. The mats consist of a matrix of end-of-life vehicle tyres which stabilise the seabed and stop seabed scour.

The award reinforces SPSL’s strong commitment to delivering high quality products to the offshore industry.

Project manager Warren Hoskins-Davies said: “We’re really proud to have successfully achieved this certification. It helps us to ensure customer satisfaction is at the forefront of everything we do.”

Because the company’s Scour Prevention Mats are made up of end-of-life vehicle tyres, stringent quality management has always been a key focus to ensure that high quality products are produced. Achieving the accreditation sends a key message that the systems in use by the company are appropriate and effective.

The certification was attained with support from Standards UK which was funded by the Manufacturing Advisory Board as part of its grant scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The company, started in 2009, has to date received investment and innovation grant support from the Technology Strategy Board to successfully complete offshore trials of their innovative anti-scour solution on E.On’s Scroby Sands Wind Farm off the Norfolk coast.

Executive Chairman John Balch said: “The accreditation adds yet more weight to our product endorsement from E.On to send a strong signal that we are ready to provide the industry with effective scour solutions.”

Press Release, January 13, 2014; Image: SPSL