TechPro achieves ISO 20121:2012 certification
We believe there is a long list of reasons why event organisers should choose to work with TechPro. Chief amongst them is our ability to combine highly qualified technical teams, quality-assured equipment and experienced project management to ensure ‘flawless delivery’ of live events.
Less obvious perhaps is our determination to be the best at what we do and help our clients deliver events that use light, sound and video to enhance the experience of event participants; an event that lives long in the collective memory.
However, we never lose sight of our wider responsibilities to the environment and the need to back-up the promises we make to our clients. Which is why ISO 20121:2012 certification remains as important for our business today as it was back in 2015, when TechPro first achieved the standard.
Understanding the ISO 20121: 2012 standard
This standard has been drafted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to help organizations and individuals improve the sustainability of their event-related activities.
This is an important distinction, that ensures the standard is not just aimed at the organisers or managers of events, but all those companies like TechPro, that contribute to the successful delivery of events, large or small; simple or involved; public or private.
The word that appears to cause some confusion is ‘sustainability’ and its meaning in the context of the standard. Importantly ‘sustainability’ is not just about being ‘green’ or more environmentally friendly, it covers far more than that.
Sustainability in ISO 20121:2012 refers to how an organisation can provide its services and activities in a commercially successful way, whilst contributing towards a stronger and more just society. And always with a determination to reduce the impact of its activities on the environment.
TechPro can demonstrate it has a documented and auditable process that is entirely ISO 20121:2012 compliant. Shaped by management meetings, we arrived at a process that considers every aspect of our operation from client brief to the return of all equipment to our Tamworth warehouse.
We have a fully transparent and itemised quotation process, using our in-house developed equipment rental management system ‘TBS’. We provide full 2D technical CAD plans for every event and 3D visualisations when required.
More than the environment
To achieve ISO 20121:2012 certification we needed to demonstrate that we consider within our event sustainability management system, all key financial, economic, social and environmental issues relevant to our operations.
But whilst focusing solely on environmental issues will not be sufficient to achieve the standard, we recycle every used battery, which are never discarded on-site, but returned to HQ for processing.
To give you an idea of the scale, on a recent event in Europe featuring 52 meetings across 13 venues, the 24 TechPro technicians onsite got through 2432 Duracell Industrial AA batteries, all of which came back across the channel to be recycled in Tamworth.
The ISO standard reflects the sustainability of our business and our ongoing compliance has helped shape the guiding principles that drive the internal processes delivering the future growth of TechPro:
- improve the experience of event participants
- accelerate innovation within the business
- drive efficiency and productivity
- enhance our reputation
We include feedback from our clients and our teams on the ground delivering the technical services, into our processes as part of our continual improvement programme – all of which ensures future certification is a simpler process.
This approach helps us develop our standard operating procedures, which cover everything from, rigging sign-off certificates and staff inductions to venue sign-off documents and onsite Health & Safety management & compliance.
We self-regulate our compliance with our processes. When we discover any actions undertaken in contravention of our agreed processes, we will record the matter to ensure it informs our learning and any required changes in the future.
Worth the effort
Certification requires a lot of work, which is ongoing. This is not a pass and forget exam, but a standard designed to change the way companies in the events industry change their approach to sustainability in all its forms, to the benefit of everyone.
TechPro has achieved the standard for ‘Providing High-End Audio Visual Equipment and Specialist Technical Support Services to the Live Events Industry – it’s what we do. And that’s official with a certificate to prove it.