We here at Facilities Management Advisor have wrapped up a successful FM Compliance Week 2023! The week included webinars and digital resources regarding facility compliance to serve facilities managers who are tasked with operations and maintenance work. They are also responsible for keeping building occupants safe, healthy, and happy. To succeed, they must be in compliance with applicable rules and regulations.
Below is a rundown of everything covered during FM Compliance Week, including key takeaways. For those who were unable to attend the two live webinars, no worries. You can still watch them on-demand at your convenience by clicking the links where indicated.
Monday, Feb. 20
Panel Discussion | Why Your ESG Strategy Relies on Facilities Management
Speakers: Steven W. Pearce, MBA, MPM, President of Pearce Sustainability Consulting Group (PSCG); and Caitlin Horsley, MBA, Senior Manager of ESG Programs at F5.
Sponsor: Avetta
Key Takeaways: ESG, also known as environmental, social, and governance, is not just a fad, and the panelists noted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon require publicly traded companies to report ESG metrics such as greenhouse emissions.
Facilities managers often already collect different types of ESG data and can help share it with upper management. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act provides tax credits and other funding opportunities for facility retrofits and energy efficiency efforts.
Watch the full panel discussion on-demand here.
Article | Back to Basics: Most Common Fire Safety Code Violations
Key Takeaways: To both minimize fire risks and avoid civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance, facilities managers must ensure their workplaces meet applicable fire safety codes. A National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) official recently spoke with Facilities Management Advisor about the importance of following the law and what facilities managers should look out for.
“Facility managers have several responsibilities vying for their attention each day, but providing safe and functional buildings for the use of all occupants is the priority,” NFPA Standards Development Specialist Kevin Carr told FMA. “Fire and life safety codes greatly assist with these efforts, offering both practical provisions and time-tested requirements tailored to the specific occupancies found within the structure.”
Read the article here.
Tuesday, Feb. 21
Educational Session | How to Improve Your Preventive Maintenance Program for Compliance
Speaker: Ted Willing, Manager of Professional Services, TMA Systems
Sponsor: TMA Systems
Key Takeaways: Willing advocated that facilities professionals use a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) when they need to report data within the organization or to an outside organization to show they are staying compliant with local, federal, and internal (company) regulations.
While organizations that adopt a predictive maintenance strategy, which is based solely on usage, could save money on maintenance, he warned that really important systems, including life safety, should follow a preventative maintenance program where maintenance is on a set schedule.
Watch the full educational discussion on-demand here.
Infographic | OSHA’s Workplace PPE Requirements
Key Takeaways: Although the term “PPE” became synonymous with face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment has long played a vital role in workplace safety across various industries.
PPE can include gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, coveralls, and more. It’s incumbent on all organizations to ensure they comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) PPE standards when applicable.
View the infographic here.
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Feature Video | FMA Shorts: What Are Some Facility Compliance Trends and Issues?
Key Takeaways: On this latest episode of FMA Shorts, Kurt Neubek, an architect, certified facility manager, and firmwide healthcare practice leader with Page, discusses the impact that sustainability and changing building codes may have on facilities management.
Watch the video here.
Thursday, Feb. 23
Article | Faces of Facilities: Christine Burkett from Sam’s Club
Key Takeaways: In her profile interview, Burkett highlighted some of the compliance issues she and her team encounter at the major retailer. “For Sam’s Club, like many other large corporations, compliance is a multi-layered, multi-directional challenge.”
She also noted that non-compliance can lead to anything from small fines to huge consequences. “A long-term unresolved failure could result in unrecoverable losses and potentially end in a permanent closure of the location. Every location is significant to the overall business.”
Read the full profile here.