Gavin Skelly, CEO of growing fire safety industry body Fire Aware, spoke of the moral and behavioural changes in culture needed to improve standards at the Scotland Housing Leaders’ Summit.
He called for unity of all of those working across the entire fire safety supply chain to consider their moral responsibility including national and local housing associations, local councils and developers across the UK.
To change the culture of the built environment, he outlined the actions being taken by Fire Aware in introducing a moral code of conduct via a series of charters designed to influence how member companies behave in upholding their duty of care.
Gavin Skelly said: “Of course we understand the need for competence. But when dealing with an industry that the public relies on to keep them safe, there has to be more. There has to be a tangible recognisable commitment to safety. There must be unity in the message all duty holders send to the public if they are to relate to its meaning.
“As with a number of other sectors and professions, the fire sector has a wide array of duty holders, but they all share one common requirement, which is to understand they are there primarily to keep the public safe.
“We are appealing to the fire safety industry and those with responsibility for making decisions to think about their moral duty from the outset of any project. We know from the feedback we receive from our members that the industry is keen to make this work. We believe in going above and beyond legislation and minimum standards and test regimes.
“Members of the Fire Aware community are taking a stand. They have told us they care and want to commit to best practice. Working together, members can contribute to the wider cause of safety in the interests of those people using inhabiting the buildings and spaces we create.”
Fire Aware is a recognised membership body serving the built environment and related sectors with a common aim to work and trade responsibly to all best practice standards in the interests of the safety of the general public.
