Building a safer future and Grenfell outcomes seminar


unregulated, but consisting of ‘major players – frankly, it’s taking a back seat to cladding, sprinklers and fire doors’. Smoke control ‘needs to have its profile raised, and it’s important everyone recognises it’, as smoke causes over 50% of deaths in fires. If the SCA doesn’t get


Competence consists of knowledge, attitude and skill, with attitude ‘key, as it all falls down without this’. A company offering all three demonstrates a ‘commitment to quality’, and third party certification (TPC) was an ‘ongoing response to develop quality levels’ and ‘go beyond’ legislation. ‘People sometimes think a scheme is brought out and that’s it until legislation changes’, but this is not so – BAFE TPC schemes have regular expert reviews ‘for the right reasons at the right time’ and via ‘robust discussions’. There is ‘lots going on beyond


standards’, which are often overseen by ‘committees of older people towards the end of their career – with the time and seniority – looking back rather than looking forward’. For all TPC schemes it was ‘important to look forward’, as ‘technology and knowledge moves on’, so thought management should too. Not everyone is competent to assess different building types – providers ‘need to get more confidence to say’ they can’t, rather than try doing something they don’t have the competence to undertake. UKAS accredited TPC ‘goes to the next level’, as it has credibility behind it which ‘makes people show what they’ve actually done and how to verify that’, even if costlier or tougher to attain. A big challenge is establishing


who is responsible for checking contractor certification, due to staff


turnover, which could be undertaken via ‘a simple question process’. Every firm has a ‘horror story’, but ‘part of the problem is that this has become accepted, and acceptance drives continuation’. FRSs can’t inspect every building, and there has ‘got to come a stage where everyone says what’s happening at every stage of a property competently and appropriately’. TPC should ‘drive questioning to check appropriate products are actually fitted’ and, as it has been around long enough, for ‘people want to be part of it – certification has been here for years, companies know and trust it’.


Smoke control The Smoke Control Association’s (SCA’s) Allan Hurdle noted smoke control was ‘an important subject we need to raise’. Hackitt mentioned competence ‘over 200 times’ and systems being a ‘major important factor’ going forward – the SCA has been part of two of the competence working groups, on products and installers. With Working Group 0 collating


different competency needs, a ‘common thread’ was being looked at ‘in terms of what competence means to industry’. For the SCA, competence was an ‘important factor’, and elements important to it include independently certified products and where TPC comes in or is adopted, as well as the smoke control industry being small,


competency right, this would have a ‘major impact’ on ‘quite a number of products’ including mechanical ventilation, passive vents and fire and smoke dampers – ‘all different’ and which must be right for the right application, particularly in terms of design and safety. The SCA’s new scheme – devised and administered by International Fire Consultants (IFC) – is mandatory for members, so any companies without it would be closed out of the marketplace, and it was devised to ‘give competence and comfort’. IFC can check ‘at all stages’ and ensure things are ‘being done correctly’, covering installation, commissioning, maintenance, insurance and service arrangements. Companies don’t have to be SCA members, but it is ‘trying to encourage everybody’ to join up, an ‘important factor’ being increased evidence and implementation of competence at all levels.


Competency update The Fire Sector Federation’s (FSF’s) Dennis Davis gave a quick update on competency workshops, pointing out that the FSF ‘welcomed’ the government announcements and adding that we ‘cannot ignore what’s gone before’. Awareness of competency is ‘very low’ as evidenced by surveys, but fines are ‘starting to ramp up’ alongside the ‘great deal of knowledge and application’ out there. There remains a ‘need to


improve assurance’, which is a ‘lot more difficult’, and Mr Davis acknowledged the ‘cascade system’ post Grenfell, which saw working groups come up with 67 recommendations for competency. These would sit in a ‘shared framework’ alongside standards, most being ‘common sense and having self interest at their heart’, (Article continues overleaf)


www.frmjournal.com MARCH 2020 17


EVENTS


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