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Managing Health and Safety Risks in Corporate
Buildings
Mr
Austin said that at the last meeting of this Committee, members
requested a fuller explanation about how the Council manages and
monitors the health and safety risks in buildings that the Council
owns but other organisations may occupy. The Catford complex comes
within Mr Agent’s remit and some of the community buildings
within Ms Dart remit and they would talk to the paper and the work
they do in this regard.
Mr
Agent said that operational buildings include Laurence House, Town
Hall Chambers, the Civic Suite and the Broadway Theatre.
Responsibility is divided between the various teams within the
service. Regeneration and Place are responsible for ensuring that
statutory arrangements are carried out and that works are
identified and completed within a reasonable timescale. The
compliance team ensure that works are completed correctly and that
documentation is up to date.
Mr
Agent said that there is also a Health and Safety adviser within
the service, who is responsible for looking at personal plans for
individuals who may be disabled in some way. There is regular
inspection of buildings so that consideration can be given to
individual issues that have not been addressed or have been
occurring on a regular basis.
Mr
Agent said that there is a building manager within the service,
responsible for front of house, reception and security. There is an
overarching plan, which gives particular emphasis on how Lewisham
deal with members of the public on a day to day basis.
Mr
Agent said that the Old Town Hall has a different arrangement to
other buildings because it is managed by a management agent on
behalf of Lewisham.
The
Chair asked about health and safety for actors when rehearsing in
the Broadway Theatre. Ms Dart said that there is a trained Lewisham
duty manager who will be on duty if anyone is on site regardless of
whether the theatre is open to the public or not. They have
responsibility for health and safety for each activity within the
building. They are particularly alert with new hirers to ensure
that any events that put health and safety at risk do not proceed.
If contractors are working in the theatre, a member of her staff
may not be on duty, in which case a member of Mr Agent’s team
would be on site.
The
Chair asked whether theatre companies have their own health and
safety programmes. Ms Dart said that they have insurance cover
similar to cover arranged by community centres and this is part of
the hire agreement.
Mr
Agent said that The Old Town Hall is managed by an agent, Cushman
and Wakefield, who are employed to take on a number of key
functions. One of which is to take on the responsibility of health and safety for the client
and consider ...
view the full minutes text for item 74.
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