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I was delighted to be joined by one of our ISO Support Plan clients, Optimum on the ISO show this week.  Optimum is part of Totally Group Plc and an important player in the healthcare sector in the UK.

Huge volumes of sensitive data are processed in the healthcare sector.  As Information Governance Lead and a qualified Physiotherapist at Optimum, David Angove explains about keeping one step ahead in his role in relation to information security. 

David described how Optimum’s ISMS should be like a well-fitted suit rather than a straight-jacket.  This all stems from the robust Risk Assessment which considers all risks to your business, including managing the integrity of data. The ISMS helped to put a continual improvement plan in place to mitigate risk. He explains about preventing access to private information through documenting controls and applying them to all 20 Optimum clinics.  Examples include physical security controls i.e. locking screens to protect patient data.  Other controls relating to personnel security include having a starters and leavers process to ensure access rights are granted correctly, and that access rights are revoked when an employee leaves the organisation.

ISO 27001 also helped with preparation for GDPR compliance, particularly with investigating all aspects of where and how data is stored within the company.  When I asked what top tips he’d give to a company looking to implement ISO 27001 David recommended getting assistance from a consultancy such as Blackmores (we hadn’t paid him to say that, I promise!), including support with the assessment, as the consultant will ‘know the standards inside-out’.

David also recommends a gripping read, ‘Ghost in the wire’s: My adventures as the words most wanted hacker’ by author Kevin Mitnik which covers how he hacked into some of the country’s most powerful – and seemingly impenetrable – agencies and companies using social engineering and other methods.  This acts as a good reminder about the value of Penetration Testing, to test how good the security of your business is and to understand that everyone is aware of your systems.

He mentioned that you can have the fanciest encryption systems and the best passwords, but if the people answering the phones or processing data aren’t aware of them, then its only as good as the weakest link.

To For an overview of what ISO 27001 entails check out our latest ISO 27001 video….

And for services in this area – check out – ISO Steps to success, or if your ISMS is like a straight-jacket rather than a well-fitted suit, our ISO support Plan will help you into an Armani equivalent ISMS for your business.

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Special thanks to David Angove from Optimum for joining me this week. Until next time!

Blackmores invites you to EDIE Live, an event focusing on the sustainability, energy management, innovation and leadership and skills of your business. Taking place at the Birmingham NEC Centre on the 17th and 18th May 2016.

You are welcome to pick our brains on all ISO standards relating to Quality, Risk and Environmental Standards and enter our prize draw to win free consultancy days and E-Learning. We are also hosting the ISO 50001 Energy Management Advice Clinic.

Who should attend?

EDIE Live should be visited by anyone who manages any environmental, sustainability, energy or corporate responsibility aspects of their business. Common attendee job roles include:

• Energy Management
• Sustainability Management
• Environmental Management
• Facilities Management
• CSR Management
• Estates Management
• Waste Management
• Corporate Communications
• Energy procurement
• Health and Safety Management
• SHE Management
• Project Management
• Supply Chain/Contract Management
• Human Resources
• Training Management

What to expect?

This year EDIE Live is focusing around the issues of Energy, sustainability and resource efficiency for all businesses. During the two day run there will be a number of seminars discussing the following topics:

• Financing sustainability: challenges and opportunities
• Energy Efficiency – present and future
• Putting the O in ESOS – where is the opportunity?
• Sustainability best practice: building asset value
• Next generation: leading the way in onsite renewables
• Innovative onsite water management strategies
• Drivers for resource efficiency: what happens if we don’t engage?
• The approach of different sectors to resource efficiency

We look forward to seeing you there.

 

So in the latest budget announcement last week, in addition to the headline grabbing ‘Sugar levy’, George Osbourne also announced changes concerning business energy taxes and reporting:

• The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme will be abolished following the 2018/19 compliance year. In parallel there will be an increase in the Climate Change Levy (CCL) ensuring the change is a fiscally-neutral reform for the Government.

 

• Organisations will report under the CRC for the last time by the end of July 2019, with a surrender of allowances for emissions from energy supplied in the 2018-19 compliance year by the end of October 2019.

 

• The full Government’s consultation response on this review was published alongside the budget. It announces a plan to rebalance CCL rates for gas and electricity. From April 2019, it will move to a ratio of 2.5:1 (electricity: gas), compared to the current 2.9:1 ratio. In the longer term, the government intends to move to a ratio of 1:1 (electricity: gas) by 2025, suggesting this will more strongly incentivise reductions in the use of gas, in support of the UK’s climate change targets.

 

• Importantly for Energy Intensive businesses, the existing Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme eligibility criteria will remain in place until at least 2023. The CCL discount for electricity will increase from 90% to 93%, and the discount for gas will increase from 65% to 78% from 1 April 2019.

 

• The budget confirmed plans to consult in summer 2016 on a simplified energy and carbon reporting framework for introduction by April 2019. It will propose mandatory annual reporting for the organisations within its scope, with board or senior level sign-off and some public disclosure of data. The consultation will cover issues such as the range and size of organisations to be covered and will make proposals about the amount and type of information to be collected and disclosed, data collection timetables and how information is reported.

 

• Due to the continued low price of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the government is maintaining the cap on Carbon Price Support (CPS) rates at £18 t/CO2, uprating this with inflation in 2020-21, in order to continue protecting businesses.

The full response to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508159/reforming_business_energy_efficiency_tax_response_final.pdf

 

 

Blackmores invites you to Data Centre world, an event that brings together world class suppliers to the data centre sector and provides thousands of hours’ worth of free content from the industry’s leading practitioners. Taking place at the London ExcEL Centre on the 12^th and 13^th April 2016, this year’s Data Centre World returns with its biggest instalment to date, expecting to improve on its 11,958 attendees from 2015.

 

What to expect?

This year Data Centre World is focusing around the issues of Energy consumption and Management from within the Data Centre Sector. During the two day run there will be a number of seminars discussing the following topics:

• Data Centres of the Future
• Critical Equipment and Facilities Management
• DCIM
• Energy Efficiency and Cost Management
• Data Centre Design and Build & Physical Security

 

Blackmores Involvement

Blackmores will be hosting a seminar on the topic of how ISO 50001 and Energy Reviews can help manage, monitor, measure and lower the costs of your energy consumption. Our seminar will take place on Wednesday the 13^th April between 1:15pm-1:40pm in the Energy Efficiency and Cost Management Theatre.

We will also be exhibiting on the show floor, if you would like to talk to us in more details about how we can help you with ISO 50001, energy reviews or any ISO standard, please feel free to visit us.

We look forward to seeing you there.