Surveyors from across the Red Ensign Group have been meeting today for training in how to audit the work done by organisations on their behalf.
Work which is delegated to Recognised Organisations and Certifying Authorities supports the survey and inspection regime across the REG but has to be regularly audited to make sure it's in line with the group standards.
The Vertical Contract Audit workshop is being held online for the first time because of COVID-19 travel restrictions with surveyors attending from Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, as well as the UK.
Regi John, Head of External Monitoring and Assurance from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is leading the workshop.
He said: "The Recognised Organisations and Certifying Authorities do excellent work on our behalf and we expect them to uphold the standards of the REG. It's important that we continue to review and monitor the work they do to make sure that they are doing so.
"Vertical audits - as the name suggests - go right through all the process from top to bottom making sure they're all in line with the standards we set and expect. These workshops are about training our surveyors so they know what they need to be looking for, what the scope of the audit is and how they should be carried out.
"COVID-19 has created all sorts of challenges for us this year which is why we moved this important training to an online session."