CHAS, the supply-chain risk management expert, has become a registered signatory of Building a Safer Future scheme and is encouraging other members of the built environment sector to do the same. 

The Building a Safer Future Charter was launched in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s review of building regulations and fire safety to instigate the cultural and behavioural changes required to achieve a safer building system. Signatories must make five commitments to prioritise safety first in the built environment. These include: 

1. Collaborate to spearhead culture change and be the voice of building safety across the sector.
2. Be transparent in the interests of safety, sharing key information with residents, clients, contractors and statutory bodies in a useful and accessible manner in the design, construction and occupation phases of the process.
3. Make safety a key factor of choice in who they work with, ensuring that building safety is placed at the centre of selection decisions without compromising quality or value for money.
4. Ensure that the voices and safety of residents, visitors and employees are central to their decision-making process.
5. Set out and communicate clear responsibilities within their organisation and with their partners, ensuring everyone with a stake in the building during design, construction and occupation understands their role and has the time and resources they need to achieve and maintain building safety.

Any organisations or individuals who work in or have a professional connection or interest in the UK built environment can sign up to the Building a Safer Future Charter. It applies to any organisation involved in pre, during and post-construction activity (including maintenance and residential/community organisations).

“As an authority and trusted advisor on health and safety compliance, responsible for setting industry benchmarks, CHAS is committed to the continuous improvement of health & safety standards in the UK. We therefore fully support the commitments set out in the Building a Safer Future Charter and actively encourage our contractors and other members of the construction community to do the same. The more widely the scheme is embraced, the more successful it will be in driving the culture change required to improve building safety,” commented CHAS Managing Director, Ian McKinnon.