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HEALTH SECTOR NEWS Improved ventilation essential to safe buildings


Good ventilation inside public buildings and on transport systems is essential to reducing the risk of COVID-19 and other infections, says a recently published report from the Royal Academy of Engineering and its partners in the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC).


In the report, Infection Resilient Environments: Buildings that keep us healthy and safe – initial report, commissioned by the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, leading engineers say ventilation’s importance is too often neglected, with the COVID-19 crisis ‘revealing flaws in the way we design, manage, and operate buildings’. Unless addressed, the report says these could ‘disrupt management of this and future pandemics, impose high financial and health costs on society, and constrain our ability to address other challenges such as climate change’. The report says ‘clear, consistent communication and advice’ on ventilation from government and professional bodies is needed to help building owners and operators manage infection risks. It also argues that ‘clearly identifiable measures that can be implemented at moderate


cost will help ensure that adequate ventilation is prioritised, alongside more visible measures such as surface cleaning and


distancing’. It also warns of ‘an urgent need to plug skills and knowledge gaps’, adding that, ‘even in sectors such as hospitals, which have a clear regulatory framework and an explicit remit for managing the health and safety of vulnerable populations, levels of skill and competence vary’.


Key recommendations include:


n Government should urgently map the knowledge and skills requirements across the building industry, general businesses, and the engineering professions, and implement plans to address the skills gaps identified.


n Government should undertake a rapid review of the capacity and capability requirements among regulators (including local authorities), to support and enforce standards in maintaining buildings for public health.


n Working with the National Core Studies Programme, UKRI, and the


First intake on ‘gold standard’ course


Derby-based Develop Training, which has had to alter many of its courses due to the pandemic, has welcomed the first intake of clients on its ‘gold standard’ construction course – with many employers receiving money back from the CITB Levy.


Approved by the CITB and Build UK, the ‘IOSH Safety, Health and Environment for Construction Site Managers’ course has been 'a roaring success – despite the raft of challenges posed by the pandemic’, and was conducted for the first time using both ‘virtual’ and in-person sessions. Daryll Garavan, Utilities Training manager, said: “Like many training companies, Develop Training has had to adapt the majority of its courses to include virtual and in-person learning. We trialled a mix of blended learning but, ultimately, have listened to our customers to retain the high quality training that we’re known for. We decided to keep the course as an in- classroom practical-based course moving forwards.”


Develop Training says IOSH’s globally delivered Safety, Health and Environment for Construction Site


Professor Peter Guthrie OBE, FREng, Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Chair of the NEPC Infection Resilient Environments Working Group, said: “Buildings make an enormous difference to people’s health, and we have often neglected this in the past, which is bad news in a pandemic, because they are one of the most significant levers that we have to control infection. We must take action now to make sure good practice in ventilation is widely understood and applied across workplaces and public buildings.”


‘Bumper year’ sees new roles created Following a sustained increase in


demand for design projects over the past financial year, multidisciplinary design, engineering, and construction specialist, BES – a specialist in delivering complex pharmaceutical and healthcare projects – has expanded its design team with 14 new roles.


Managers course ‘provides essential knowledge for anyone who oversees or manages safety, health, and environmental risks associated with construction activities’.


The course aims to keep businesses healthy and safe, with an effective training programme which claims to reduce the cost of accidents and illness by up to 40 per cent within the industry.


Under the Industrial Training Act 1982, all construction industry employers and contractors must be assessed against the CITB Levy, and a levy return sent in each year. Payers into the levy can get up to £120 back per employee enrolled on the Develop Training course.


This follows ‘a bumper year’ for the firm, with 10 independent design commissions completed, with a combined value of £2.5 m. The company has also delivered a similar number of projects totalling circa £50 m, which combine design, engineering, construction, and commissioning. Located across the UK, and spanning the pharmaceutical, biopharma, healthcare, and medical devices sectors, the design projects have leveraged the expertise of BES’s multidisciplinary design team, including process, architecture, HVAC and electrical engineering. Many have been process-led, and involved complex technical challenges. The 14 new roles span varied design disciplines, including process engineering, architecture, HVAC, and electrical.


August 2021 Health Estate Journal 11


National Academies, Government should implement an action plan to address key research gaps on an accelerated basis.


n Research and demonstration projects should be commissioned to fill key knowledge gaps.


Prof. Peter Guthrie.


n Action to meet Net Zero must be developed in a way ‘consistent with priorities around indoor air quality and making buildings resilient to infection’.


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