A week in the life of… a building safety manager

Tuesday

Today is our monthly team meeting. We review team performance across all THT compliance obligations, including the fire risk assessment programme, electrical safety inspections, asbestos surveys, water hygiene contracts, and lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations inspections.

These checks and reviews are all part of THT’s innovative approach to building safety, which has earned us praise from Dame Judith Hackitt, who led the independent review of building regulations and fire safety post-Grenfell. In 2019 the trust established a new, dedicated building safety team, becoming one of only a small number of social housing providers to have a specialist team.

In her letter to the trust, Dame Judith, chair of the Industry Safety Steering Group, says she was “so impressed by what we heard from you, that I have already begun to use you as an exemplar when talking to others. We have heard from others that the role of building safety manager may prove to be difficult but your positive approach to this suggests otherwise!”

After a busy morning I take a late afternoon break, as we have a meeting with our high-rise customers at 5.30pm on Zoom. The meeting will discuss existing actions around building safety and neighbourhood issues and is for customers to challenge THT representatives on any concerns they may have.

At tonight’s meeting, content on the TV screens located in our tower block foyers is high on the agenda. Customers inform us that they want to see more building-specific information. We agree that more updates would be uploaded to the screens to keep customers informed. 

Wednesday

At 9.30am, I meet members of our tenancy sustainment and CleanStart (a social enterprise within THT that delivers a range of services to our neighbourhoods and homes) teams for a Community Waste Day, where our customers can dispose of unwanted bulky items for free.

Being out in the community is fantastic and gives me the chance to raise awareness of fire safety and why our communal means of escape must be kept clear. Meeting with customers on a day like today reminds me of the importance of what we do and how it has a real impact on our customers’ lives.

Late morning, I meet with the senior strategic fire safety advisor at L&Q. It’s exciting times right now as we continue to work ever more closely with our colleagues at L&Q, share ideas and come up with new group strategies to keep our customers safe.

THT was the first organisation in the UK to achieve the new British Standard in fire risk management, BS 9997, and we are keen to work together to build on the success of that.

Next, I have a Primary Authority Partnership review meeting with THT’s fire safety manager and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in the afternoon. As we are at the end of the financial year, we discuss positive outcomes from this year, including another year of zero enforcement notices. We agree on actions for the next year, including advice on fire risk mitigation measures at tower blocks and fire safety management at complex buildings with mixed-tenure/occupants.

Thursday

I attend the weekly fire risk actions review meeting with the two building safety contract co-ordinators responsible for fire safety contracts, and our apprentice admin. We regularly check any high-risk actions first to ensure that THT already has a plan in place to remediate risk – and where major work is needed, mitigating measures are agreed on. We then check any new actions that have been logged on the system and decide on the necessary action and responsibilities for addressing.

Late afternoon, I provide our customer involvement team with content on seasonal fire messaging for the next customer newsletter. With all the hot weather we’ve been having, we need to remind customers of the dangers of having barbecues on balconies.

I’m back on site to visit a complex three-storey building to review the findings of a recent fire risk assessment. After visiting the site, I liaise with the building owner to discuss responsibilities for fire-stopping repairs and request further details on the external wall system. 

Friday

Is it Friday already? I try to keep Friday as meeting-free as possible (it doesn’t happen every week). This gives me time to follow up on any outstanding issues/actions before the weekend. Being a BSM is about risk prioritisation, so if there is anything that doesn’t need urgent attention throughout the week, I can hopefully now catch up on it.

I chase up the results of a fire-stopping survey completed by an approved contractor at one of our extra-care schemes and confirm that work has been completed to address any issues found. I also contact a structural engineering contractor to instruct an external wall survey; the results and possible remediation work will be discussed once the reports are completed.

And while I look forward to the weekend with open arms, I remind myself that building safety and customer care don’t stop at 5pm on a Friday. I’m on call this weekend to deal with any customer or building emergencies, so I’ll keep my phone on me just in case.