Policy Owner - Chief Property Officer
Accountable Lead - Director of Property Maintenance & Building Safety

Policy Level - Regulatory
Policy Reference - HS/2020/01/002
Link to Strategy - Over riding
Version Control:
V.1 – New Policy September 2020
V.2 – Updated July 2022
V.3 Updated Jan 2024
Effective till: Feb 2027
Approved by - BSOG Feb 25, Key commitments – Audit Committee Feb 25
Consultation - Building Safety Oversight Group
Equality analysis - Part of H&S Policy EIA. No material change affecting EIA made since inception, to review again 2027 wih Policy.
Next review date - Feb 2027

Policy Statement
The objective of this policy is to keep our customers’ homes safe. Where this comes at a cost – financial, convenience, customer satisfaction – it is safety that drives our thinking.

1.2        Similar policies do the same in relation to the

wellbeing of our colleagues and to keeping our

construction sites safe.

1.3        The commitments in 1.1 are defined as either key board#

commitments (defined in the key commitments document that is

subject to board approval) or operational commitments that are

delegated to the Chief Property Officer. That definition is based

on those carrying the greatest risk being board committments:

risks to the safety of customers, but also where the tensions are

greatest between safety and cost, between safety and customer

satisfaction and where the measures we adopt need to be both

reasonable and practical. Our Board sets the strategic direction

by putting in place those key commitments.

1.4        Supporting this policy are operational policies for each of the functional areas. These deliver:

·         The strategic commitments the Board has set.

·         Operational commitments delegated by the Board.

2             Responsibilities

2.1        The Board and the Executive, through the Policy Owner,

ensure the policy delivers our strategic objectives and reflects

corporate values.

2.2        The Accountable Lead is accountable to the Executive for

the effective implementation of the policy, providing assurance

that key principles established by the Board are reflected in our

culture and practice.

2.3        The Accountable Lead is responsible for the

operational delivery of the policy, ensuring that:

·         The principles are achieved through appropriate team plans and objectives.

·         Policies and Procedures translate the policy objectives into practice.

·         Appropriate advice, support and training is in place for the safety team, and others responsible for requirements of this policy.

2.4        Each of the supporting operational policies details

responsibility for delivery, and their associated procedures set

out in detail responsibilities for each task in that area of the

Property Safety team and others with responsibilities for

property safety.

3.           Principles

3.1        ‘Quality Homes’ is one of our five strategic objectives, and

the safety of those properties and places is fundamental to that goal.

3.2        Compliance with our statutory and regulatory obligations is

a minimum. The commitments below deliver that, but also set

out where, additionally, we go beyond that minimum because

we consider it appropriate to the nature of our properties and

customers, and because we can reasonably minimise risk

further by doing so.

3.3        The key commitments detail specific commitments that

will be monitored by the board.

3.4        The key commitments are agreed periodically by

the board as part of reviewing this policy.

Managing the risk from fire:

·         How we define the level of risk associated with each building.

·         How frequently we carry out risk assessments at each building.

·         How quickly we carry out works that mitigate risk.

·         The nature of the risk assessments we carry out.

·         The basis for deciding evacuation strategies from buildings.

·         Our appetite for allowing items to be placed in shared thoroughfares.

·         Our approach to providing alternative, shared storage.

Managing the risk from water:

·         How we define the level of risk from legionella in our homes.

Managing the risk from electricity:

• How we define the risk of electrical faults in our homes and buildings.
• How frequently we test the safety of hard-wired electrical supplies.
• How quickly we carry out works to mitigate identified risks. 

Managing the risk from asbestos:

·         The extent to which we know where asbestos is present.

·         How we define the level of risk when we know asbestos is present.

·         How frequently we review our knowledge or inspect known asbestos.

·         The action we take to mitigate different levels of risk asbestos presents.

·         How quickly we take that action.

Managing the risk from heating (gas and other fuels):

·         How frequently we carry out gas safety checks.

·         How frequently we carry out checks for oil and solid fuel appliances.

·         How we manage the risk from gas in empty homes.

Mitigating risks when we can’t get access to carry out safety checks:

·         How we approach dealing with no access.

3.5        Further operational commitments are defined in our

property safety scorecard. Approval of these is delegated by

the Board to the Chief Property Officer.

4             Application

4.1        We deliver the commitments above through the following:

·         Fire Safety Policy

·         Heating Policy

·         Water Safety Policy

·         Electrical Safety Policy

·         Mechanical Services Policy

·         Asbestos Safety Policy and Asbestos Management Plan[MD1] [TB2] 

·         Radon Safety Policy

·         Keep Safe Group quarterly compliance scorecard

5.4        Our customers will have assurance that the homes

they live in are safe through:

·         Annual Report

·         Oversight Group: SHAW performance report and safety compliance scorecard

·         Individual building safety communication

5.5        This policy will be reviewed every year.