To be by-lined to Richard Brookes, Group Head of Health and Safety, South Staffordshire Plc… When we use the words Health and Safety, our first thoughts usually aren’t that; real work is messy, events have multiple causes, you should trust your experts or, you should be focusing where nothing has gone wrong. The traditional and most common way to manage safety is to investigate after something has gone wrong, to identify the single root cause and, typically, put a person fix or new admin control in place to prevent the same thing happening again. We’ve become very fixated on this approach, and have perhaps, started to run the risk of over simplifying how we manage risk improvement. As the world, work, systems and technology become ever more complex, we become more reliant on subject matter experts to help us manage our facilities and the equipment we depend on. As supply chains and contractual relationships become wider and deeper, we should ask ourselves some questions: Waiting for the bad outcome or assuming high risk tasks are well managed can no longer be good enough as work becomes more complicated. A relatively recent development in safety management uses a Human and Organisational Performance viewpoint (or HOP). HOP takes a systems and person approach to work as a means to understand the conditions in which people are set to and work in. It emerged from the US Department of Energy and has been shared by safety thought leaders such as Todd Conklin. HOP has five guiding principles; error is normal; blame fixes nothing; systems and conditions drive behaviour; leadership response to failure matters; and learning is deliberate. Taking the guiding principle of ‘learning is deliberate’, one of the changes that organisations can undertake is to implement ‘Learning Teams’ to adopt a HOP approach to safety. What are Learning Teams? They are a proactive way to understand how normal work gets delivered successfully. When we say successfully, we mean in the absence of anything going wrong, or anyone being hurt. It’s the inverse approach to traditional safety. Don’t wait – you investigate when nothing happens. That might sound strange, but things going wrong are an ever-shrinking data pool. You can conduct a learning team on anything, but a great place to start is with highest risk tasks; anything that has the capacity to kill or have life altering consequences. Who should be involved? The most important people to be involved are those who actually do the work. They know the job best and understand the changes and adaptations they make every day to get things done. This is one of the biggest benefits; deeper insight into work as it’s actually done, not as it’s imagined in the written process. You can start to understand how workers make decisions and how systems and procedures can alter overtime. If we are only interested after something’s gone wrong, it’s all too easy to see this gap. How often do we investigate what’s happened, after the bad outcome, to conclude that workers didn’t follow the process? That’s because processes often change slowly overtime, as work exists in the real, complex world and constantly changes to meet the demands of various trade-offs. Having a coach, or facilitator is also essential; someone who can get people talking and make it ok to share. Creating a psychological safe environment is essential to learning. The benefits of learning teams Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals 

The Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) assesses all energy used by buildings, processes and transport. With an unrivalled knowledge of a firm’s operations, facilities managers are often responsible for taking the lead on ESOS submissions and ensuring the assessment process is followed correctly according to Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out assessments every four years and for this latest phase, should submit its compliance notification to the Environment Agency (the scheme’s administrator in England) by 5 December 2023. These include audits on the energy used by a business’ buildings, industrial processes, and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving measures. Last year, the Government released the outcomes of its ESOS consultation, aimed at raising the ambition and standard of ESOS reporting, to make it a greater driver for energy efficiency action and align it with UK decarbonisation goals. Key introductions include a reduction in the amount of energy that can be excluded from the assessment – known as the Total Energy Consumption (TEC) – from 10% to 5%, meaning 95% of total energy used across buildings, processes and transport must now be assessed, leaving a much tighter margin when it comes to data collection. There are also new compulsory action plans, which participants must set following the phase three compliance deadline and report progress annually as part of its Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting framework; however, meeting these targets won’t become mandatory until phase four. ESOS has also introduced an energy intensity metric whereby a business will need to detail kWh/m2 for buildings, kWh/unit output for industry and kWh/miles travelled for transport. Whilst businesses still have nine months to comply with the latest changes, Bureau Veritas is on-hand to support facilities managers to file their submission sooner rather than later. Every business that must complete an ESOS assessment has the same deadline, which results in resource scarcity as the deadline approaches, therefore achieving compliance sooner could be more cost-effective and offer more choice when it comes to appointing a lead assessor – driving additional benefits for the business. David Murray, Business Unit Manager – Sustainability at Bureau Veritas, comments: “Whilst ESOS reporting must only be carried out every four years, it’s vital that businesses get ahead of the curve to ensure any required audits are completed and submitted ahead of the strict 5 December 2023 deadline. Penalties for non-compliance can be up to £50,000 fines plus £500 per day, so as well as the opportunities to reduce energy usage and better a business’ carbon footprint, there are clear financial gains to be had from early compliance. “Facilities managers form a key part of the ESOS process, given they have vast knowledge of a businesses’ operations, including buildings, processes and transport, and a solid over-arching view of the company’s corporate structure – an imperative aspect of filing an ESOS submission. “Phase three has introduced a number of key changes, most notably the tighter scope on energy reporting, new metrics and the requirement for an energy efficiency action plan to be drawn up. It’s important for facilities managers involved in this process to ensure they understand the full scope of the new strengthened requirements, engage a lead assessor early on, and have a understanding of the data collection requirements.” Bureau Veritas is also urging facilities managers who may not have previously had to report to get ahead for their first assessment. Companies which qualify for the mandatory assessment under ESOS include those which employ 250 or more people, have an annual turnover in excess of £44 million and an annual balance sheet total in excess of £38 million. David continues: “The ESOS qualification criteria are complex and many organisations will need to take significant steps in order to comply with all requirements. Furthermore, businesses which may not have had to report under phase two of ESOS but have since met the criteria to comply with the reporting scheme this time around, may be in the dark when it comes to what they need to do first, and the business drivers to push forward with the process. “There are clear benefits to ESOS, other than compliance – although this is the main driver for many. Firms that have a clear vision when it comes to sustainability and sustainable policy are able to have an increased awareness of energy issues within their business, save money when ESOS recommendations are implemented, support the business’ net zero transition, and improve their corporate sustainability reporting. “As an independent third-party with experience helping many clients comply with the ESOS regulation in the UK, we’re able to support businesses with UK and European operations to take action towards compliance. Our global network of energy experts offers a wealth of knowledge to help your company achieve compliance in a cost-effective manner. In many cases, going beyond compliance can also maximise the business benefits that can be gained from reducing and optimising energy consumption.” With vast experience and technical expertise in energy assessment and verification, Bureau Veritas is uniquely placed to help organisations achieve compliance with the ESOS regulations and take advantage of energy savings opportunities. With qualified Lead Energy Assessors available to guide the process, Bureau Veritas can support businesses through every step of its energy efficiency journey, starting with full ESOS compliance. To further support businesses in meeting phase three of ESOS regulations, Bureau Veritas has released a brand new downloadable guide, to help navigate the process. For further information on ESOS and how Bureau Veritas can support your business on its energy efficiency journey, get a free quote. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals