Building and maintaining trust and credibility is of paramount importance for the longevity of any business in any sector.

Whether you are the owner of an SME, organisation or larger enterprise, your customers instill their trust in you to deliver a service or product safely with the utmost of care and professionalism. This is where industry-recognised credentials are fundamental, like those in the access control sector.

Here, we take an in-depth look at the NSI and NACOSS standards, what these mean and why businesses should look for access control providers with these credentials. 

National Security Inspectorate (NSI)

National Security Inspectorate (NSI) approval marks the hallmark of excellence for security and fire safety service providers.

A reflection of technical competence, codes of practice and business experience, NSI credentials are industry-recognised standards that reflect positively upon a business operation.

The NSI hallmark

The NSI standard is the most widely recognised mark of approval in security and fire safety, with this leading industry hallmark telling customers that a business boasts:

·        Technical competence: The business works to both British and international standards alongside NSI codes of practice. It also highlights that workforces have relevant technical experience in their field.

·        Professionalism: When an organisation has NSI gold approval, like Touchstar, they are demonstrating that they can operate a quality management system in accordance with ISO 9001 and NSI quality schedules.

·        Trustworthiness: In any business operation, trust is key. NSI approval demonstrates that the organisation has reputable directors and leaders with relevant business experience and effective employee security screening, so you know you can trust all staff throughout the organisation hierarchy.

With security and fire safety in your workplace of paramount importance, businesses can rest assured that NSI approved companies have the knowledge, expertise and competence to deliver the project to the very highest of standards.

Codes of practice

Approved NSI companies are also required to keep up-to-date with the latest developments of industry standards and codes of practice for the benefit of their customers. Complying with these standards and keeping knowledge and expertise fresh, businesses can be assured that they are in safe and competent hands and that projects are being delivered in-line with the latest guidelines.

NSI assessment

At TouchStar, we boast the NSI Gold standard accreditation, and have held this since 2015 and each year undergo a rigorous independent assessment.

To receive NSI approval, a national network of independent expert security and fire safety auditors will assess your company and its operations. The regular assessments will look to demonstrate that your company is compliant with British and International codes of practice to provide reassurance for your customers.

Touchstar audits

As part of the NSI assessment, we are audited and checked twice a year, once for the physical work that we complete and once which focusses on the back-office processes and structure to ensure compliance.

The assessment of our physical work includes all documentation, including quote and installation sign off and as fitted specification. This ensures that we understand the customer requirements and the customer understands what we are proposing, which when ordered also acts as a crucial check list to align expectations.

The as fitted spec is to capture and changes during the installation process from the eye of the customer or installation team, again, for full transparency and to ensure customer expectations are met.

National Approval Council for Security Systems (NACOSS)

The National Approval Council for Security Systems (NACOSS) is a well-regarded industry standard that assessed business operations up until 2001.

In 2001 these credentials were replaced as a result of the merger between NACOSS and the Inspectorate of the Security Industry (ISI). The result of the merger was a newly combined organisation named the National Security Inspectorate(NSI), which we discussed earlier in this article.

Lynden Jones, Managing Director at Touchstar ATC, said: “Being part of an approval that is as highly respected and trusted in the security sectors such as NSI give us confidence we are operating at the highest level for our customers. Knowing this allows us to deal confidently in our work, ensuring the very best is delivered in everything we do.”

Click here to find out more about Touchstar’s industry-recognised, leading access control solutions.

Transform your business operations today

If you want to find out more about how Touchstar’s access control systems - endorsed by leading industry hallmarks - can transform your business operations, please contact Touchstar today.  

Our dedicated team is proud to deliver the very best in robust, cutting-edge technology that transforms operations across countless industries.

Get in touch and see how we can improve your business operations today.   

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – LYNDEN JONES

Lynden joined Touchstar ATC (formally Feedback Data) in a sales role for Access Control in 2010.  Prior to joining the company, Lynden held both Production and Account Manager roles, gaining wide technical and commercial experience within the electronics market.  

In 2013 Lynden was promoted to Sales Director and in 2017 he took overall responsibility of the business as Managing Director.As well as running Touchstar ATC, Lynden still remains extremely active in the sales and key account management aspects of the business. When not involved in the business, Lynden is a keen performance car enthusiast.