A week in the life of… an asset compliance co-ordinator

Tuesday

I spend time talking to a resident who has a domestic stairlift which we‘ve not been able to service. It turns out the stairlift was for his wife, who passed away two years ago. I know stairlifts are funded through a one-time grant from the local authority, so if I arrange for the stairlift to be removed, this resident will not get another grant if he needs one in future.

I suggest to him that we could decommission the stairlift rather than remove it, to avoid inconveniencing him for service appointments and also save Poplar Harca the service call-out costs. This way we have the option to recommission the stairlift if he need us to years down the line.

The resident was happy with this solution and so am I.

Wednesday

I have a meeting with our wonderful IT team about the secure server we’ve set up to enable us to securely transfer safety certification between us and our contractors.

When I started this job it was in the immediate wake of Grenfell, when lots of residents were understandably contacting us, concerned about the safety of their home. With IT I led on setting up a process with our suppliers, so that we can generate a detailed compliance report for every property at the click of a button.

Thursday

As part of a regular best-price review of our compliance expenditure, I noticed that the cost of the air conditioning service had crept up over time. I picked up the phone to the supplier, (I find talking to people so much more productive than sending emails) and asked what wiggle room they could give us to bring this cost down. The supplier rang me back five minutes later and offered £6,000 less than the quoted price. I’m delighted!

I’m a people person and have always work closely with colleagues and contractors to make sure we find the best solutions to issues like this. Good working relationships really matter and I think we’ve been good at building them because we share an understanding that there are no short cuts or compromise with compliance.

Friday

I receive an email to say I’ve passed two City & Guilds qualifications in controlling the risk of legionnaires’ disease. My team mates have been studying for the same qualifications and I’m chuffed to find out I’ve got the highest marks in my team! I allocate a good five minutes to rubbing this fact in during a quick team Zoom call.

This job is a constant, huge learning curve, and requires me to work incredibly hard. But working in compliance has also been the best, most stimulating work of my career so far.

At its heart, compliance is about keeping people safe – what’s more motivating than that?