Meet the experts:

Julie-Anna Smith

What is your role at Bureau Veritas?

I am head of the Technical Centre which is our consulting and advisory division. The Technical Centre is a cluster of specialist engineers, mathematicians, and scientists who excel at solving problems and creating innovative solutions to support our customers manage risk.

We help our customers to improve the quality, health, safety and social responsibility of their operations, whilst safeguarding the environment. I get to work across a number of different sectors such as oil, gas & chemicals, power & utilities, banking & insurance, manufacturing, and public authorities. This variety means that we are able to easily transfer best practices across different sectors and are constantly exposed to new ways of working and problem-solving on an hourly and daily basis.

My personal technical specialty is in high risk industries, where it is important to understand the bigger picture on how things work, as well as the cause and effect of hazards and risk mitigation.

What challenges do your clients face and how are you / Bureau Veritas able to support?  

Regardless of the industry they are from, all of our clients want to ensure they are effectively managing their health, safety and environmental risks effectively and responsibly.

The challenges are constantly evolving, but I would say the three biggest challenges they currently face are:

• Climate events / climate change risk and how that impacts their business model, but also potentially their brand
• Regulatory and compliance risk, which includes the drive to constantly ensure improvement across all aspects of risk management
• Political – given the current political uncertainty and the Brexit issue, which has resulted in slow decision making for investments, and difficulty planning for potential supply chain disruption

Our customers trust us to help them act responsibly, solve problems and manage risk. There is an increasing expectation that we can provide a flexible and agile service which can quickly match their changing needs.

Typically, this means that when a client works with us they want it to be a smooth process, for us to be responsive and to provide advice and support on time when they need it. They also expect it to be accurate and up to date, drawing on best practice systems and standards, with strong communication and a relationship based upon trust.

Our customer needs are changing; how does Bureau Veritas respond to this? 

This is linked to our approach on innovation, which combines not only listening to the immediate needs of our customers, but also evaluating macro-economic factors such as population growth, technology evolution, and political change on a longer-term horizon.

We continue to invest in our people and in technology to help drive our innovation. In the past few years we have also increased our professional partnerships and collaborations, recognising that this often can help us find a solution for our customers much faster than starting from scratch, and I expect that trend to continue.

Can you share your ‘must dos’ from your own experience?

I think it is important to be thoughtful and consider the assumptions you are making when scoping out a problem with a customer. It is important to ask questions, and ensure that you truly understand the issue, and the risk appetite of the customer.

Also, embrace differences as this can become the cornerstone of sparking new ideas or connections. Constantly be open to learning; the best solutions are never the brainchild of an individual – it requires team work, open dialogue and collaboration.

What is Bureau Veritas doing differently and what impact is it showing for our customers?

Our people and the culture our values create is the real difference that we have. We are willing to tell a customer that we don’t know the answer, but will work with them to find a solution together. This requires confidence in our technical abilities to find a solution, and we have a track record of doing it. It’s actually this collaborative spirit which has meant that we are able to convert ideas into practice and the reality of the real world faster.

How can your team support clients to achieve and maintain compliance, drive consistency and create visibility across large portfolios? 

We have a large team of technical experts across niche topics covering everything from chemical, suspended concentrations, breast milk substitutes and extruder processing, to energy management, soundscaping and building acoustics. There are too many to list so we encourage customers to come with their problems so we can find a solution for them.

Obviously the answer is a risk based approach – we are always striving to ensure that the effort we invest is proportionate to the value it will bring to our customers, which is complemented by strong project management skills.

Finally, what does 'good' look like to you?

Good is knowing that our work has made a positive impact in making the world a better place.

 

Learn more about our consulting and advisory technical services:

Acoustics and vibration  

Occupational hygiene

Ambient (outdoor) Air Quality 

Health and safety strategy

Industrial risk management

Fire science and emergency response