Second HRB Safety Case Event!

The second RiskFlag Higher-risk Building (HRB) safety case event, here’s what we learnt…

The theme for the event was ‘learning from experience’ and ‘competence’. So the day could not have started any better than with Caroline Gumble (CEO The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)) presenting Level 6 Diploma certificates to 9 graduates.

Thank you to Jon Davis and Michał Jankowski for sharing real world fire and structural incidents in their HRB. Most importantly, both organisations conducted a thorough de-brief of the incidents so that risk assessments could be improved and Safety Management Systems (SMS) updated, to improve processes that were seen not to have worked well. This is why having a live HRB safety case is so important!

Both incidents required a Mandatory Occurrence Report (MOR) to be submitted. What was surprising to hear was that the findings of the MORs have not been summarised and distributed to other HRB owners in the UK by the Building Safety Regulator. This is disappointing, as it is important that learning is shared between all owners / managers of HRB. What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you to Sean Reynolds for providing a fantastic insight into being one of the first Duty Holders (Principle Accountable Person in HRB speak) in military aviation. He shared stories that demonstrated that having a suitably qualified and experienced team and a robust SMS, he was able to conduct dynamic risk assessments to achieve the mission.

Culture. Culture. Culture. Without having the right culture within your organisation, your team will struggle to perform and leaders will not be provided with useful data to make decisions. Team members will make mistakes, but it is important to foster a culture where people feel safe to admit mistakes, so that solutions can be found for them - don't make them feel bad!

Thank you to Sean Hanlon who provided and excellent brief in demystifying the structural side of the HRB safety case. The focus of the presentation was explaining how to conduct a proportionate structural risk assessment, as applying current structural standards to old buildings does not work. Sean has even written chapters in structural textbooks on the subject! The key takeaway was that we need to get away from reactive structural safety to proactive safety.

Thank you so much to all our speakers who gave their time up to share their experiences. Without your expertise and support the day would not have been as successful as it was.

Thank you to our gold sponsor, Oakleaf Surveying Ltd, and to their Director of Fire Graham Oliphant for all his support. Thank you to our sponsor Housing LMS and Roger Gillespie, and Brent O'Halloran for arranging the presentation of certificates.

Let's keep learning for experience, but most importantly share that learning within the HRB community.

Keep an eye out for the next RiskFlag event! If there is interest, we may hold an event in the north of England next.