At Ligtas, our goal is to support our clients with the question are we safe and support them in demonstrating that. Getting to grips with what is required with the safety case process is part of that ongoing guidance.
So, what is a safety case?
In simple terms, a safety case demonstrates that your organisation understands how to handle and demonstrate safety.
In reality, creating a good fit-for-purpose safety case can be a little more complex due to the interpretation of what is required, what can be delivered, what available resources you have and what needs further clarification.
The preparation and subsequent implementation of a safety case can be a time-consuming, costly and challenging task. Which, of course, you probably don’t want to hear. But having said that, if you approach it logically, you will soon know what is needed and how to approach it in the most effective way.
The key is to consider the benefits achieved. This means don’t approach it with your compliance hat on and do it just to tick some boxes.
We consider that a good approach to this is to undertake some internal due diligence first so that you have a better idea of what you want to ask your Ligtas consultant.
With this in mind, we have provided an overview of the five key steps with some points for consideration.
The goal is to understand what is needed and how to make it accessible to your stakeholders. This is because the safety case is intended to be used actively as an effective tool for ongoing operational risk management. It is not a nice to have document stuffed in a folder, dusted off when the compliance people turn up.
Before You Begin
In the context of the Building Safety Act, the "accountable person" plays an important role in the safety case process. This person is responsible for ensuring the building's safety by assessing, managing, and mitigating risks associated with the structure and occupancy of the building. Key responsibilities include:
- Gathering Information: Collecting detailed data on the building's design, construction, and usage to inform safety assessments.
- Risk Assessment: Conducting thorough analyses to identify potential fire, structural, and operational hazards.
- Safety Case Development: Preparing and maintaining a comprehensive safety case report that outlines the risk management strategies and safety measures in place.
- Regulatory Compliance: Submitting the safety case report to the competent authority for approval and adhering to ongoing regulatory requirements.
Additionally
To get this right (as far as is reasonably possible), it needs:
- High-level commitment from the leadership team towards to the process and the allocation of resources
- Quality measures implemented alongside it
- An accessible, easy to use and understandable safety case provided for key stakeholders
- To take into consideration the needs of those that will use it
- To consider the different types of documents and systems used to support it
- To be a documentable and useable process, not just a set of documents and systems
- To be used as a risk management tool and used as a guide for ongoing health and safety training
- To be tested and a review of potential gaps identified regularly
- To be managed as any other project, by applying best practice principles of project management
- To be reviewed, scrutinised and updated regularly and these changes communicated in a timely fashion
- To not be used as a compliance tick box
- To be used to support the development of a strong safety culture
Safety Case Process
To make a building’s safety case, a number of steps should be followed that will culminate with a safety case report being prepared.
Step 1 – Gather Information
The first questions you will have are what information and where is it? Gather comprehensive data including architectural plans, material specifications, past incident reports, and maintenance records. This data provides a foundational understanding of the building’s potential risks and current safety measures. Other information you might include:
- Basic building information
- Your building’s construction
- Resident profile
- Refurbishment
- Fire prevention and protective measures
- Structural safety
- Services and Utilities
- Maintenance and inspection
The question of where it is can be a little more frustrating, given that there will be information already articulated, some accessible, and some hidden in silos. Then there is the question of who knows what and if they actually articulated it or if it is hidden safely in their brains.
Action
We suggest you start a knowledge audit ahead of a discussion with one of our consultants.
Step 2 - Identify Building Fire And Structural Safety Risks
In high-rise residential buildings, multiple factors affect safety risks and their potential impact. Therefore, you need to review your building systematically to consider what can go wrong and the effects that this could have. You may want to consider advanced risk assessment techniques such as probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and fault tree analysis to identify potential fire and structural failures. These methods may help in predicting and quantifying risk factors more effectively.
Action
Consider and challenge existing control measures. Then consider whether you have taken all reasonable steps to prevent a building safety incident from happening or limit its severity if it did. Then ask whether you have the necessary skills and knowledge to do this.
Step 3 - Risk Prevention And Protection
If you are responsible for a high-rise residential building, the Building Safety Act will require you to produce a building safety risk assessment. Your risk assessment should clearly demonstrate the following:
- the types of measures you have taken
- the reasons you have taken these measures
- how they work, and how you delivered them
Action
You will need to demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps to manage building safety risks. Can you currently do this, and if not, what do you need to do to begin this process?
Step 4 - Safety Management Systems
If you are responsible for an occupied high-rise residential building, a safety management system (SMS) is a formal framework that can help you manage building safety risks. For this purpose, we define a building safety risk as the spread of fire or structural failure.
Your SMS should be proportionate to the hazards of your building, based on an in-occupation risk assessment. How complex your SMS is will depend on the size of your organisation and the number of buildings it manages.
Action
Begin the review of your SMS. Is it fit for purpose? Is it accessible to all that need to use it?
Step 5 - Safety Case Report
If you are the principal accountable person (PAP) for an occupied, high-rise residential building, you will be required to produce a safety case report. This should demonstrate that you have identified and assessed the safety risks in your building, defined in legislation as the spread of fire and structural failure.
Your report should show you have taken all reasonable steps to prevent any building safety incidents. It should also show the measures taken to reduce the severity of any incidents if they occur.
Action
What training do you need to ensure that your accountable person is equipped to create your safety case reports?
In Conclusion
A robust safety case relies on a strong health and safety culture. It is not a tick-box exercise but a process that will create a well-defined, robust and reliable process that supports health and safety.
