HSE creates new toolkit for high-rise building safety cases

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has created a new toolkit to help inform owners and managers of high-rise buildings about the new safety case regime.

The law relating to building safety in England is expected to change when the Building Safety Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, is enacted.

The toolkit builds on the safety case principles the HSE published last year.

The first part of the toolkit is a short summary of the key things business owners and managers can do to prepare: https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/how-to-prepare.htm

The HSE said this would be followed in the coming months by further information that builds on the safety case principles from last year, based on suggestions and comments from early adopters, private landlords, social housing providers, and other industry consultees.

Tim Galloway, deputy director of the Building Safety Programme at HSE, said: “I am really pleased that we’ve published this information in such a digestible form. I want to thank all our partners for their invaluable contribution. We all want safe buildings and I would encourage building owners to start their preparations for the new regime now rather than wait for all the details to be developed. I think the existing principles, this headline document and the further information to come will really help.”

Commenting on the building safety regime changes, Steve Coppin, chair of CIOB’s Health, Safety & Wellbeing Team, and strategic technical adviser for SJC Risk Management Solutions, said: “Clients or developers who own or manage high-rise buildings should be gathering relevant information about how their building was built (including the design intent – why it was built the way it was). Include any changes that have been made since it was first built, and the measures in place to control building safety risks.

“Every building is different so they will need other items of information that they may not but should have. Some information will be obvious or easy to find but may require investigating the building through surveys undertaken by competent professional surveyors for help and assistance.”

Read more about safety cases and safety case reports here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/safety-cases-reports.htm

Source: Construction Management