Health and safety for facilities management

Overview

This workshop has been designed to help managers understand their responsibilities and what they need to do to ensure compliance with current workplace legislation – all the more important this year with new fire safety and CDM regulations.

The day will cover the legal background – including an appreciation of how safety legislation has evolved and why; the logic behind recent developments and the implications for staff and employers; key areas of current legislation; roles and responsibilities in health and safety management, including monitoring contractors and suppliers effectively; implementing sound health and safety policies and procedures; getting staff on board, and implementing effective systems. Also, recognising potential risks and hazards and developing strategies to minimise their impact in the workplace.

Training objectives

This course will give participants an understanding of:

The broader context of the key areas of health and safety regulation which apply to your organisation
Existing health and safety practice and guide them in how to shape and implement an effective health and safety policy
What they should do and the procedures to support it
Potential areas of risk in the workplace – and how to take action to minimise the threat to staff safety
How sound health and safety processes can contribute to business performance

Audience

The course is intended primarily for FM teams (including building services and estate managers) but, depending on the nature of the organisation, it can also be a very useful opportunity to bring in other personnel who would benefit from a greater awareness of health and safety issues, eg, project managers, HR, office managers and others.

Format

A highly interactive one-day course, with workshops and informal breakout discussions a feature of every session. Additionally, the course notes have been prepared as a real aid to inform, containing many checklists and example forms to assist participants in their workplace.

Special features

The course outline below is an indicative programme, which can easily be tailored to focus on those issues which are of particular concern to your organisation or sector.

The supporting materials can be supplied in either printed or electronic form.

Post-course support, whereby participants can call or email the trainer direct with any questions or concerns, can also be arranged.

The expert trainer

Graham is a very experienced and senior practitioner in the facilities management arena. A Fellow of the British Institute of Facilities Managers, he is a regular speaker on public training seminars and conferences and was a major contributor to the development of the BIFM training programme. He is a member of the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), a regular contributor to a number of publications and a visiting lecturer to UCL, Reading University and the College of Estate Management. His practical experience was gained in the management of major building projects and later as the Head of Facilities of a national public sector organisation (where he was at the forefront of guiding the public sector in outsourcing services – including PFI – and was responsible for leading associated change management programmes), as a Group Board director of a major FM company, as Chairman of an FM consulting company and now as Director of an independent consultancy specialising in FM and PFI with clients such as Clearstream International DBG, Mitchells & Butlers and Stonemartin Corporate Centres.

Course outline

Understanding the workplace legislation
- Overview of health and safety and workplace legislation
- Compliance, the role of the facilities manager, and who is accountable?
- Breakout session to discuss where we are now and to highlight issues of concern
- Applying required policies and procedures
- Developing and implementation/review of the safety policy
- Communicating with users, clients and contractors
- Health and safety manual
- ‘Selling’ health and safety
Key legislation – a practical working guide
- Construction (Design and Management) Regulations
- Electricity at Work Regulations
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations
- Manual Handling Operations Regulations
- Asbestos Regulations
- Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
- Work Equipment Regulations
- Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)
Controlling contractors
- New Regulations in 2006
- Assessing contractors
- Understanding and setting accountability
- Why a method statement?
- How to apply a permit to work system
- Safe systems of work
- Round-table discussion to bring out issues from participants’ own experience
Risk assessment
- Understanding your hazards
- Identifying specialist areas
- How to undertake these assessments
- Implementation of sound systems and processes
- Syndicate exercise identifying where assessments are needed and carrying out assessments
Keeping the work environment safe
- Sick building syndrome and legionella
- Waste management
- Pest control
- Provisions for first aid
- Accident reporting and investigation
Fire safety
- New Regulations in 2006
- Fire certificates
- The fire risk assessment
- Testing fire-fighting equipment?
- Emergency procedures
- Workshop to examine the procedures for dealing with different types of emergencies
Ergonomics programme
- Ergonomics – important or irrelevant?
- Are you complying with HSE regulations?
- Furniture and equipment
- Display screen equipment assessments
- Homeworking – your concern or not?
- Syndicate exercise to review what to do when relocating or refurbishing an office
Inspecting and auditing
- Role of Health and Safety Executive Inspectors – ‘be prepared’
- FM role
- Staff/trade union involvement
- Independent audits
- Records and reports
- Communicating the results
Action plan
- participants to list actions they need to take after the course

Facilities management

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