Changing Fire Safety Practices 2019 conference round-up

Brian Martin, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

Brian echoed the previous points made by Martin and added that it is crucial that all those involved in the industry work together to understand and implement the changes that are happening.

Brian gave invaluable insight to the operations within the Ministry's building safety portfolio, and provided an overview on the process involved in creating the updated Building Regulations Manual.

He also called on all construction professionals to be accountable to each other, to question how things are done. Can they be done better? What else can we do?

Sandra Ashcroft, HSE

Sandra provided an overview of safety and risk management from the duty holders' perspective. She talked about the fundamentals of safety: identification, control and mitigation; using Safety Management Systems effectively, rick control measures, safety culture and how the industry "can do better to prevent."

Lorna Stimpson, LABC

Lorna provided an update on the activities that LABC are engaged in. She also talked about the changes and self-reflection LABC undertook as an organisation in light of the Hackitt Review. Lorna talked candidly about how the industry needs to prepare itself for change and called on proven competency to be at the forefront of all construction-related organisations.

LABC is ready to support its members in making these changes and has implemented a new ISO Accredited Standards & Quality Management System as well examination assessments for surveyors.

Brent O'Halloran, Hyde Group

No-one had expected anyone to openly talk about their own failings following the Grenfell tragedy. However Brent shared more than just this. His session was about how in the Housing sector, things were shaken up to a completely new level, and they as an organisation had to act well, and fast.

Their new building safety taskforce is a new approach to fire safety for Hyde and has resulted in better data, safety controls, effective risk management and mitigation and crucially better resident involvement and scrutiny. Hyde's mantra, "Would I be happy if I had a 'loved one' living in this building?" resonated with everyone in the room.

Richard Blyth, RTPI

Richard provided an overview of Gateway 1 He also talked about the processes involved at Gateway 0. Whilst it didn't feature in the Hackitt review, all construction professionals should consider their pre application discussions and approvals as the foundations to moving projects forward effectively.

James Whiteford, LABSS

James followed on from Richard to discuss Gateways 2 and 3 and what could be learnt from practices and procedures of the Building Warrant System in Scotland.

James highlighted that there is no ban on combustibles in Scotland but that this was likely to change in the near future. He also highlighted that competency will be questioned and assessed at all approvals and verifications stages.

Jenni Seex, GMFRS and Sandra Tomlinson, HSE

Jenni and Sandra gave early feedback from the Manchester pilot of the Joint Inspection Team. They talked about the challenges and successes of working and learning from the joint partnership in Greater Manchester as well as their recommendations for projects going forward.

Brian Moore, BBA

Brian provided an overview on whistleblowing and whether test results can be trusted. He talked about qualifying disclosures and when these become protected. Brian also talked about the impact of education and culture and how this can help to debunk myths around whistleblowing with the aim of providing better understanding to learn and progress.

Tom Roche, FM Global

Tom talked about passive and active fire protection and importance of collaboration with third party providers to ensure the best standards are met to build a safer future.