The Week, spearheaded by the Association of Safety and Compliance Professionals (ASCP), is an annual event dedicated to shining a spotlight on safety and compliance at an operational, strategic, and cultural level. It also supports Dame Judith Hackitt’s calls to act faster and address safety cultural issues in the sector. And with the advent of The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, the ASCP believes that the Week also has a role in helping to redefine the standards of social housing in the UK.
Now in its third year, the campaign will launch a new movement ‘Together for Safety’. This movement recognises that no one person or department, or organisation can deliver safe homes for residents – it involves the whole supply chain coming together.
There are four key strands to Together for Safety:
Together with Residents – engaging and working with residents; listening to their concerns; responding swiftly to and remediating any safety issues; helping and empowering residents to keep themselves, their families and their communities safe.
Together as a Sector – coming together as professionals and peers to work on joint challenges and contribute to best practice; working with suppliers to innovate, overcome obstacles and ensure resident needs are met.
Together with Colleagues – working effectively and with joint purpose with colleagues from other disciplines such as procurement, finance and customer service; ensuring that the safety message is heard and prioritised throughout our organisations.
Together with the Authorities – responding to, and working effectively within, a new regulatory landscape.
‘Whether you are a social housing landlord, supplier, contractor or a trade/official body related to the sector – we want you to get involved to support Together for Safety’ comments Matt Sharp, CEO of the ASCP. ‘At the core of the movement is the coming together of all stakeholders with a common purpose to work with, and for residents’.
The above four strands will be explored in a series of online events during the Week, they are free to join and everyone is welcome. The events will explore safety around topics such as damp and mould, electrical safety in relation to the Social Housing Act, fire detection in homes, gaining access for safety checks, building safety, emergency planning and working with procurement.
The sector can also demonstrate its support for the movement by downloading a toolkit from the website to share on social media and by uploading their logo to the National Social Housing Safety & Compliance website.
Matt continues ‘we are delighted that a number of ASCP members are involved in delivering these events, including Orbit Group, Connexus and Abri – sharing their knowledge and expertise to help improve resident safety. It’s also reassuring to see the Housing Ombudsman supporting the Week with a spotlight on damp and mould’.
