The British Standards Institution is developing a new International Standard for facilities management that is now available for public comment. The standard, ISO 41001, intends to aid organisations in managing their operational activities and risks, and lays out the requirements to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and provide a documented integrated facility management (FM) system. This International Standard is applicable to any organisation that wishes to: establish, implement, maintain and improve an integ... Continue reading

Large companies and the public sector can do more to reduce carbon emissions, according to new research from Philips Lighting, which reveals that: only a third of organisations disclose emission reduction targets or performance against them in their annual reporting; this is despite the average organisation reporting CO2 emissions equivalent to 2,421 homes’ energy use for a year; and less than half of these organisations say they actively encourage employees to reduce carbon emissions at work. The company’s analysis of the most rece... Continue reading

The Queen formally opened parliament last week, outlining which laws will be laid before MPs in the near future. Although her speech heavily focused on issues such as Brexit, it also contained a few things HR should be on the lookout for. Immigration Although not much colour was provided – and there was no direct mention of doubling the immigration skills charge, as the Conservatives proposed in their manifesto – the Queen said one of the pieces of legislation for Brexit would establish “new national policies on immigration”. “Whil... Continue reading

The UK Government has been urged to scrap its approach to deregulation of health and safety legislation in light of the Grenfell Tower blaze. In an open letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, over 70 leading organisations and figures from the UK’s safety and health profession have jointly called for a political sea change in attitude towards health and safety regulation and fire risk management following the tragedy. The collective has also pressed the Government to complete its review of Part B of the Building Regulations 2010 – the Regul... Continue reading

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) has set out its strategic priorities for the facilities management (FM) sector following the General Election. Accounting for about seven per cent of UK GDP, the health of the wider FM industry has a major impact on the overall UK economy, it says, with the professional body outlining its three priorities in order to face the challenges of the next few years. With the insecurity that has arisen since last year’s EU referendum, BIFM is calling on the Government to: ensure that the FM i... Continue reading