A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE

It is very strange how quickly you can get used to even terrible things. A week ago, I was shocked and horrified by the Russian incursion into Ukraine. Today, while I remain horrified, the shock has worn off and I listen to the rolling news with some detachment and a worrying complacency. Nothing has improved – indeed the situation is continuing to get worse - but I seem to have been numbed to the situation.

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I don’t like it – or what it says about me.

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It is pretty shameful to think that, just because I am all right and my world goes on untouched - my petty concerns occupy much more of my thoughts than the desperate plight of people not so terribly far away.

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Maybe, on a more mundane level, it also illustrates of why some of the things that keep cropping up in accident reports - and, sadly, on death certificates - never seem to go away. Perhaps we simply get habituated to the issues causing the problems and, because they don’t touch us, or are things of which we have direct experience, we just stop seeing the bigger picture. It could even be that, because we get away with unsafe behaviours time and again, we begin to believe we are invincible and the risks we flout are less serious than they really are.

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It is a very real challenge when it comes to risk management.

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At a very low level I know this to be true of my own behaviour - as a very keen cook, I am forever burning myself on the oven. I know from my past life working on government safety campaigns that, on the national stage, this is the case with road safety. Research has found that the more safety equipment we put in our cars the less carefully we drive: we get used to trusting the car to save our lives. And careful consideration of the statistics shows that most accidents happen within striking distance of our homes, or on roads we know well, when attention drops and familiarity breeds contempt.

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Every day each one of you must help colleagues and clients guard against the everyday risks that can lead to disaster for workers in the built environment. And it is hard to get people to listen and to take persistent prophesies of doom to heart when cutting corners happens every day without incident.

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APS, as you know, works in partnership with other organisations to help raise awareness and share best practice in design risk management in the built environment. We are active members of groups working to improve all aspects of construction health and safety.

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We are signatories to CLOCS, which campaigns for better vehicle safety in the construction sector. We are represented on the Temporary Works Forum and the HSE’s high level group on asbestos safety. We are involved with fire safety – both at home and overseas – and work with industry partners to improve high rise buildings. Our current CPD sessions on general health matters are looking at the most common problems to beset workers in the sector. You can still book to attend – it costs you nothing extra as the two CPD programmes each year are included in your annual subscription. You will find the details of this, and all our other events, at: www.aps.org.uk/events .

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So, it seems that APS is touching all the bases.

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But there is always more to be done which is why we have been lobbying the legislators who are currently working on the Building Safety Bill. The Bill is currently in the House of Lords and I am very pleased to report that we may be getting through to some people.

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Let’s be clear, APS supports the aims of the Bill. There is no question that the association supports moves to make all structures – not just those targeted in the proposed legislation – safer for both workers and the people who go on to live in and use those buildings. But we have concerns – shared with many colleagues with whom we work as part of the Construction Industry Council [CIC] – that the current Bill does not go far enough and may have some glitches which will actually make the situation worse.

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APS has three key suggestions to make the legislation better: 1) Safety up front: making building safety an explicit requirement in the Building Safety Bill; 2) Insuring the Future: providing government backed indemnity insurance; and 3) Holding to account: clarifying the Principal Designer roles.

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Our briefing note on the current state of play is at: www.aps.org.uk/building-safety-bill . A more detailed paper about the Bill itself is on the way and the legislation itself will be the focus of our Spring conference on Wednesday 11 May 2022.

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I am pleased to report that Lord Greenhalgh, the minister speaking for the government, has taken note of what we have been saying and has confirmed he will be considering the specific points we have made. For the first time APS has been name checked in parliament and, while this by no means guarantees we will secure the changes we are after, it opens doors for us to have a meaningful discussion with the lawmakers. You can rest assured we will take every opportunity to get your points across. And I will keep you informed about how that goes. You will find the record of the House of Lords debate at: hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2022-02-28/debates/8374E7A2-1459-4261-AAB9-79B88C8888D0/BuildingSafetyBill .

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In the meantime, it is back to the day-to-day grind and pre-weekend chores. Change rarely comes with fanfares and flights of angels – especially not on a dull and dismal Friday. It takes solid, boring, conscientious graft and open, honest dialogue. I hope this approach will work for construction safety. I just wish the same dull old approach would drown out the drums of war so there might be peace on our bellicose little planet. And, especially today as I remember that we are all inter-connected and that every battle is my war too, I wish for a lasting solution to the tragic situation in Ukraine.