British Safety Council welcomes new Building a Safer Future Charter
The Building a Safer Future (BSF) Charter has launched its ‘Charter Champion’ initiative to help companies drive the systemic culture change required to put building safety first.
The Charter, which is open to all, will help companies identify potential issues and develop continuous improvement plans to advance their overall approach and performance on leadership and culture in relation to building safety. This is critical if further tragedies like the Grenfell fire – where failure of leadership and culture were key underlying causes – are to be avoided in the future.
The British Safety Council is delighted that the first 12 companies have signed up to complete the robust benchmarking and independent assessment process required by the ‘Charter Champion’ status, and in so doing are demonstrating real sectoral leadership.
Mike Robinson, Chief Executive at the British Safety Council, commented: “The Charter is a key mechanism for delivering the culture change badly needed by the sector. Becoming a registered signatory means organisations can proactively demonstrate their commitment to building safety. The whole sector has a collective responsibility to safeguard the people living in their buildings and ensure these are safe places to live, both now and in the future.
“We would encourage participation in the Charter Champion initiative from across the construction and wider built environment sector and, in particular, the Duty Holders required under the new legislation to undertake the benchmarking process.
“We look forward to seeing the Charter Champions group grow as others also realise the benefits of becoming part of this important scheme.”
Abigail Bainbridge, Chair of the British Safety Council Construction Sector Group and Persimmon Homes Group Health, Safety and Environment Director, said: “The principles of the BSF Charter clearly align with our commitment to building safety, so we are proud to sign up to the initiative. We look forward to encouraging partners and suppliers across the industry to strive for Charter Champion status.”
