Carl Raybould

Fire Safety Compliance Officer at St.Leger Homes

Having served over 23 years in and around Fire safety and having experienced first hand the devastating result of passive fire, my mission is to improve practice within the housing association industry. I have gathered a great deal of experience in working in a Housing Association sector in supporting the implementation of company safety policies and procedures to prevent unsafe work practices and to promote a lasting and sustaining safety culture, in addition to prioritise Fire Risk Actions through to completion.  I am a competent Fire Risk Assessor and have gained knowledge of life safety assets, fire stopping and most importantly, the thought process and approach concerning human intervention. I have supervised, advised and liaised with other staff in high pressure environments and possess excellent organisational and delegation techniques.

I am passionate about fire, Health & Safety and driving forward improvements whilst engaging operational and other support function stakeholders.

Wednesday 28th June, 11:00am-11:30am

‘Using procurement to resolve fire risk assessment actions’

Managing Fire safety across multiple sites and properties are very challenging, especially when it comes to ensuring compliance with relevant Fire Safety Regulations.  Specifically, those within the housing sector can find it particularly difficult to keep on top of their FRA actions. Research has shown that fire safety now ranks as a high level and top concern for social housing landlords, including local authorities, housing associations and others,  Specifically in relation to the communal areas of these types of buildings and the guidance surrounding communal areas.

Following the successful passage of the Fire Safety Bill 2021through parliament, there is now clear guidance about what constitutes the ‘communal parts’ of a building and exactly who must take responsibility for fire protection in these areas. Using a procurement framework, can help manage the many fire risk assessments, and subsequent actions more efficient, helping housing associations who have multiple properties streamline their whole Fire Risk Management process.

Fire Risk Assessments are becoming more and more overwhelming. The best approach is to prioritize and plan what needs to be done, working with competent contractors to identify a certified solution and to manage delivery. Improvements take time and we just need to be given the time, quality solutions over deadlines.