Stuart O'Brien, Author at Facilities Management Forum | Forum Events Ltd - Page 34 of 87
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Stuart O'Brien

Safe For Work app enables staff to report coronavirus symptoms to employers
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Employers can now keep a written record of the daily health status of each employee using a new symptom tracking app.

The Safe For Work app, developed by London-based Filter Digital, has been designed to give colleagues working together the reassurance that everyone who is at work, is, in fact, safe to work.

It’s available now on the iOS App Store, Google Play Store and Web as a progressive web app and is intended to complement a company’s existing health and safety procedures.

Safe For Work allows employers to design a custom bespoke questionnaire for their employees to complete before they attend their place of work, whether that’s an office, shop, factory, warehouse, etc, to check all are well and reporting no symptoms of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.

Questions could include “do you have a temperature?”, “have you got a new, continuous cough?”, “have you travelled abroad or had close contact with anyone that has travelled in the last 14 days?”.

The app can be used on any mobile device or browser, allowing employees to communicate honestly, clearly and privately about their health so that they don’t inadvertently place colleagues at risk.

The questions posed are Yes/No by default – the results can then be used by management or HR to determine whether the employee is safe to work that day, or if the responses breach the businesses health and safety guidelines.

Filter says the Safe For Work app can be used easily by both employers and employees and can be set up to the individual needs of any company or process.

Oliver Morrison, CEO at Filter, said: “In this unique and challenging time, we wanted, as a solutions led business, to contribute some good. We recognised that the rules and practicalities of ensuring staff are safe for work had changed and aimed to provide an additional support measure to help reassure employers and employees that everyone who is at work is safe to work.

“We’re delighted to have rapidly developed Safe For Work, a convenient symptom reporting tool and have made it available for free to any business or organisation to use.”

For more information visit, https://safeforworkapp.com.

Do you specialise in Asset Management services? We want to hear from you!
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Each month on FM Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on a different part of the facilities management market – and in September we’ll be focussing on Asset Management solutions.

It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help FM industry buyers find the best products and services available today.

So, if you specialise in Asset Management solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Paige Aitken on p.aitken@forumevents.co.uk. Here’s our full features list:

  • Sep – Asset Management
  • Oct – FM Software
  • Nov – Business Continuity
  • Dec – Fire & Safety Equipment

Are you looking for Cleaning specialists? FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory can help!
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Looking for a new cleaning services supplier for your building, venue, school or company? The FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory is home to dozens of trusted partners ready to help make your project a reality!

Put simply, there’s something to suit every requirement.

Start Your Search Now

Are you an FM supplier? Get listed!

The FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory is the perfect platform to raise your organisation’s profile and extend your reach.

Promoted via the FM Briefing newsletter, website and our renowned meet-the-buyer facilities events – this digital FM directory offers a comprehensive list of industry solution leaders.

For a short period of time, your business can now be included in the FM Directory for FREE!

In these times of uncertainty for everyone, we are offering support to the industry by providing a free listing for a 3-month period, to support businesses through these difficult circumstances.

Click Here To Get Listed!

Or, for more information, please contact Paige Aitken on 01992 374079 or p.aitken@forumevents.co.uk

Confirm your place at October’s Facilities Management Forum
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Have you confirmed your free guest pass to our hybrid Facilities Management Forum? You can attend either in person or virtually.

As our guest, you can enjoy live industry seminar sessions, a bespoke itinerary of 1-2-1 meetings with innovative suppliers, networking with peers, overnight accommodation and lunch & refreshments throughout.

There is no hard sell at the event but it is a great opportunity for you to gather business contacts for future use.

5th & 6th October – Hilton Deansgate, Manchester

It’s entirely free for you to attend and could help you reduce your expenditure by matching you with budget-saving suppliers who match your business requirements.

Live event and virtual attendance options are available – Click here to confirm your free guest pass today.

IWFM begins consultation on social value framework for FM
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The IWFM is now inviting workplace and facilities professionals to participate in a consultation on the draft National TOMs Facilities Management Plug In (NT FM Plug In).

For the last few years, the IWFM Sustainability Survey has evidenced the need for greater clarity around social value, while a 2018 Leaders’ Forum Report articulated how there was a role for IWFM in creating social value metrics and an industry-agreed definition of what ‘social value’ should mean.

Since then, IWFM has joined forces with The Social Value Portal and the National Social Value Taskforce to develop such an FM-specific framework.

The Draft NT FM Plug In is a culmination of work that has been ongoing since 2019 and has included a wide range of meetings and discussions with facilities management experts. It has been specifically designed to help organisations in the sector measure and maximise the social value they create through the sourcing and delivery of their services; importantly, it will also allow organisations to report value created as a financial contribution to society. The publication of the final version is scheduled for later in 2020.

The National TOMs are a framework for social value measurement and management that allows for an unlocking of social value through its integration into procurement and project management.

The survey has been designed to collect feedback from a wider set of stakeholders to ensure the NT FM Plug In meets the needs and priorities on social value measurement and management within the facilities management sector. The survey itself is accompanied by a series of supporting documents which provide more background and guidance on the TOMs.

The consultation is open until 6 September and it takes around 15 minutes to complete. If you have any questions about the NT FM Plug In or the survey, please contact: philipp.cyrus@socialvalueportal.com

Please participate in the survey here.

Open Innovation Levels Framework published by UKGBC
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The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and Sustainable Ventures (SV) have published the Open Innovation Levels Framework, a resource aimed at enabling open innovation with the goal of reducing the climate impacts of the built environment.

The organisations say 40% of UK carbon emissions are attributable to the built environment, which requires significant innovation to reduce its impact. Recent research shows that, in London, innovation is the most frequently identified soft skill required to respond to recent trends in the built environment, with the same research identifying the most significant trend being the climate crisis.

As part of a project to accelerate open innovation, funded by EIT Climate-KIC, UKGBC and SV carried out interviews, desktop research and workshops with innovators and large corporations operating in the built environment sector to identify the needs and barriers currently preventing significant innovation. This research identified that in many cases the power to overcome barriers to innovation lies with large corporate organisations.

45% of all barriers identified related to corporate culture, including attitude to risk, lack of systems thinking and lack of incentives.

The Framework provides a step-by-step guide on how corporates can engage in open innovation and reach effective solutions. It is divided into 4 key phases – challenge definition, scoping, engagement, and collaboration – each of which are broken down further into 8 levels with associated actions. This shared process creates a common understanding of open innovation between corporates and innovators, increases transparency, and enables more efficient and timely engagements.

Alastair Mant, Head of Business Transformation at UKGBC said: “If the built environment is to play its part in tackling the climate crisis we must radically increase the use of innovative solutions. Many companies throughout the property and construction value chain are setting ambitious carbon reduction commitments and to meet these they must now find new ways to construct and operate buildings and infrastructure. Innovators and start-ups continue to create many of the required concepts, prototypes and even final products, but due to largely cultural issues, take-up of these solutions is too slow. The Open Innovation Levels Framework provides corporates with a step-by-step process for collaborating with start-ups in a way that will lead to greater levels of innovation within their projects and across the industry.

“It is our hope that UKGBC members and other organisation in the built environment find this Framework useful in pursuing innovative solutions to environmental and social impact challenges.”

Charlie Beharrell, Senior Commercial Associate at Sustainable Ventures, added: “Sustainable Venture’s community is thriving with innovators tackling the Built Environment’s climate and sustainability issues, but the sector lags behind in its efforts to nurture these and bring them to market. The framework we have developed with UKGBC will enable corporate entities to better engage with early stage innovation, helping to build new, tailored solutions to facilitate the transition to net zero.”

Reconnect with the FM community at the Facilities Management Forum
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We have a place reserved for you at the upcoming Facilities Management Forum, which you can attend in person or virtually – make sure you claim it today!

5th & 6th October – Hilton Deansgate, Manchester

As our guest, you can enjoy live industry seminar sessions, a bespoke itinerary of 1-2-1 meetings with innovative suppliers, networking with peers, overnight accommodation and all meals & refreshments.

If this would be useful for your business, please confirm your attendance here – Live event and virtual attendance options are available.

Places are limited. This event is entirely free of charge – If this event is not relevant to you, please forward to a colleague.

Find the Catering solutions you need in the FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory
By:

Looking for a new catering supplier for your building, venue, school or company? The FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory is home to dozens of trusted partners ready to help make your project a reality!

Put simply, there’s something to suit every requirement.

Start Your Search Now

Are you an FM supplier? Get listed!

The FM Forum Recommended Supplier Directory is the perfect platform to raise your organisation’s profile and extend your reach.

Promoted via the FM Briefing newsletter, website and our renowned meet-the-buyer facilities events – this digital FM directory offers a comprehensive list of industry solution leaders.

For a short period of time, your business can now be included in the FM Directory for FREE!

In these times of uncertainty for everyone, we are offering support to the industry by providing a free listing for a 3-month period, to support businesses through these difficult circumstances.

Click Here To Get Listed!

Or, for more information, please contact Paige Aitken on 01992 374079 or p.aitken@forumevents.co.uk

Government bill ushers in new era for building safety
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The government has published its landmark Bill to deliver the biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years and make residents safer in their homes.

The Building Safety Bill will improve regulations as the government seeks to bring forward a clearer system with residents’ safety at the heart of it.

The government is also announcing that full applications for the £1 billion Building Safety Fund, to remove unsafe non-ACM cladding from buildings, can be submitted from 31 July – with 747 registration forms processed since 1 June.

Residents have helped to develop the proposals through engagement groups, and under the new rules, people living in high rise buildings will be empowered to challenge inaction from their building owner and have better access to safety information about their building and will benefit from a swift and effective complaints process.

A Building Safety Regulator, already being set up within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will be fully established and equipped with the power to hold building owners to account or face the consequences.

It will enforce a new, more stringent set of rules that will apply for buildings of 18 metres or more or taller than 6 storeys from the design phase to occupation.

The government views the draft Bill as legislation that will evolve as further evidence and risks are identified to ensure that residents’ safety is always prioritised and will also provide new powers to better regulate construction materials and products to ensure they are safe to use.

Government expert Michael Wade has been asked to work with leaseholders, and the finance and insurance industries. He will test and recommend funding solutions to protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs of fixing historic defects, ensuring that the burden does not fall on tax payers. He will also develop proposals to address insurance issues around building safety.

The draft Bill includes a new ‘building safety charge’ to give leaseholders greater transparency around costs incurred in maintaining a safe building – with numerous powers deliberately included to limit the costs that can be re-charged to leaseholders.

It comes as the government will also publish a consultation, which sets out proposals to implement the recommendations from Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that require a change in law.

The consultation will also look at strengthening fire safety in all regulated buildings in England to ensure that people are safe from fire regardless of where they live, stay or work. Taken with the draft Bill, these measures will improve the safety of residents in buildings of all heights.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said: “This is a significant milestone on our journey to fundamentally improving building safety and delivering real change that will keep people safer in their homes.

“I remain committed to making sure we get this right, which is why I will be publishing the draft Bill for scrutiny and improvement before it is introduced in Parliament.

“I am also calling on the industry to actively prepare for these changes now. It is vital that the sector moves in step with us, to provide confidence and reassurance to residents that their safety is firmly at the heart of everything we do.”

Building Safety and Fire Minister Lord Greenhalgh said: “As a government we are determined to learn the lessons from that fateful night at Grenfell Tower and ensure that a tragedy like this does not happen again.

“These are the biggest changes to building safety legislation for nearly 40 years, and they will raise standards across the industry and ensure building owners have nowhere to hide if they break the rules.

“Consulting on key recommendations from the Inquiry and wider changes to fire safety regulation will give those affected the opportunity to make their voices heard and help us implement lasting, significant change.

Independent advisor and author of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, Dame Judith Hackitt said: “I welcome this draft Bill as an important milestone in delivering the fundamental reform this industry needs to make residents and buildings safer.

“It meets the ambitions and recommendations set out in my review. And industry must be in no doubt that it is not enough to wait for the Bill to become law before they implement changes; we expect them to start taking action now.”

CLC launches tool for COVID-19 cost assessments
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The Professional Practice Task Group for the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Covid-19 Task Force has published a methodology for assessing and reporting the cost implications of disruption due to the pandemic.

Construction clients and contractors rely on accurate cost prediction as the basis of business plans, financial contracts, and commercial control.

The CLC says unprecedented nature of the pandemic is affecting the progress and productivity of existing and future contracts, meaning that the information upon which estimates are usually prepared no longer applies.

The Toolkit acts as a guide to enable better cost forecasting to assist the industry in making informed investment decisions on viability, improving robustness of pipeline and driving long term economic growth.

Simon Rawlinson, Chair of the Professional Practice Task Group said: “The Cost Assessment Toolkit will help the construction industry manage the impact of Covid-19 on existing and future contracts.

“It establishes a standard methodology to incorporate the cost impacts of the virus into estimates, provides clarity on exclusions and through the collection of industry wide data allows clients and supply chains to compare their project costs against an aggregated data set.

“By providing the tools to measure and therefore improve productivity, the toolkit acts as a guide to ascertain and assess project risks and establish viability for the long term.”

To access the tool, click here.