Building safety benchmarking to follow chemical industry model

The Building a Safer Future Charter, set up to drive construction culture change following the Hackitt review, will base its benchmarking and verification system on a model used by the chemical sector.

The government has appointed the Considerate Constructors
Scheme (CCS) to set up the charter, working with the ‘early adopters group’ of
contractors and housing groups who have been trialling the Hackitt
recommendations.

CCS CEO Amanda Long told CM that the charter needed
independent verification to have substance.

“We plan to work closely with, and learn from, the
‘Responsible Care’ approach adopted by the chemical industry,” she explained.
“We intend to exceed their requirements in relation to independent
verification.”

Responsible Care is a voluntary initiative, adopted by 96 of
the world’s 100 largest chemical producers, which commits signatories to continuously
improving their health, safety and environmental performance, and relations
with neighbours and the public. 

“We are focusing on raising standards in the industry and
building public trust in building safety,” said Long. “We will do this by providing
a robust approach to benchmarking and independent verification of projects,
plus a public portal for anyone to raise concerns they may have about the
safety of a building.

“We will be establishing a working group over the summer to advise on benchmarking and verification,” she added.

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