30 March 2022 12pm – 1pm Webinar

Overview

Following their successful building compliance event in April 2021, the IWFM Midlands Region is delighted to bring you a follow-up event on the new regulatory environment for fire safety, including changes embedded in the Fire Safety Act and the forthcoming Building Safety Bill, and what it all means to you as a workplace and facilities management professional.

The webinar panel will consist of Martin Ryan from MGR Fire, who has been feeding into Dame Judith Hackitt’s report ‘Building a Safer Future’ and consequent government’s policy, consultation and draft legislation, and Sofie Hooper, IWFM’s Head of Policy, who has been engaging with government and wider stakeholders to make sure that the building safety manager (BSM) role, competence requirements, and the wider ecosystem around the Bill can deliver on its core objective of safe homes for people.

Before answering live questions from the audience, the panel will discuss the important changes in both pieces of legislation, the new statutory roles of BSM and accountable person, what is expected from them in terms of competence and organisational capability, and what the expectations will be around fire risk assessments. This event will be hosted by Nicola Lathbury, Chair of IWFM Midlands Region.

Please send in any questions you may have for the panel in advance to: [email protected]

Speakers

Sofie Hooper

Head of Policy and Research, IWFM

Sofie Hooper leads on the IWFM’s wider policy and public affairs work, helping to raise the voice of the Institute, its members and the wider workplace and facilities management sector. She engages with stakeholders to ensure best practice is taken on board and concerns affecting workplace and facilities professionals are mitigated.

Covering a wide range of activities and areas, sustainability, workplace and building safety form the core agenda. Sofie has been leading on IWFM’s Building Safety Manager work programme, feeding into the legislative process towards the Building Safety Bill.  She provided the Secretariat for the Competence Steering Group’s Working Group 8, which developed the Building Safety Managers competence framework. 

In addition to being the co-author of the Group’s report, Safer people, safer homes: Building Safety Management, she is a regular contributor to Facilitate. Building on WG8’s recommendations, Sofie is a part of the Interim Executive of the Building Safety Alliance, a cross sector collaboration which is working to improve holistic building safety competence across the occupation phase. She is also a part of the Steering Committee for the DLUCH sponsored PAS 8673, which is setting the competence specification for Building Safety Managers.

Nicola Lathbury

Managing Director, Infinite Group Services Ltd

With fifteen years’ experience in the facilities management sector, Nicola is keen to explore with our panel how we stay connected with our teams in a disconnected world. You can connect with Nicola on LinkedIn at via email.

Martin Ryan BA(Hons); MIFireE; CIWFM; TechIosh

Fire and Facilities Consultant, MGR Consultants

Martin has 10 years’ experience of running multi use, multi occupancy buildings, schools, student accommodation etc. within both the public and private sectors.

He achieved a BA in facilities management at Sheffield Hallam University when he was forty-six, graduated 2018 (at 50) and set up MGR to provide fire, health & safety, and facilities consultancy services.

MGR is a family business consisting of Martin, Jane (his wife), Callum (his son), Zoe (his daughter) and Steve (his son in law). They work across the whole of the UK and Ireland delivering fire safety.

Over the last three years they have gradually developed into a specialist fire safety business providing specialist fire safety advice, fire strategies, fire risk assessments & training etc.

They work with some of the largest organisations in the UK such as Amazon, Molson Coors, Nicholls Plc (Vimto), CBRE, Vinci, Amey, Mitie etc. Along with several local authorities.

Martin has been working with IWFM’s Life Safety Working Group for three years and has delivered seminars to “National Construction week” at the NEC in 2019. He has also worked on consultations such as “raising the bar”, review of “PAS 79”, and “BB100” among many others.