Fire safety behaviour change is central to efforts to improve standards across the UK built environment supply chain, Fire Aware has said in comments made this week to industry members and stakeholders.
Fire safety behaviour change is being positioned as a key requirement for delivering lasting cultural reform across the UK built environment supply chain, according to membership organisation Fire Aware.
The organisation said this week that its expanding membership base reflects growing recognition across construction, asset management and building operations that responsibility for fire safety extends across all levels of the sector.
The emphasis on behavioural reform comes amid ongoing changes following the Grenfell Inquiry, which has driven sustained scrutiny of safety culture across the industry.
The inquiry, led by Dame Judith Hackitt, has previously called for a shift towards ethical responsibility and cultural change, rather than reliance on regulatory compliance alone.
Regulatory oversight has also been strengthened through the creation of the Building Safety Regulator, which is tasked with improving competence and raising standards across the built environment.
Fire Aware chief executive Gavin Skelly said behavioural change across contractors, subcontractors, asset owners and managers remains essential to achieving consistent safety outcomes.
He said the challenge is not limited to compliance, but extends to attitudes and day-to-day decision-making across different professional disciplines.
“Changing behaviour can be difficult especially across different disciplines whether you are a contractor, sub contractor, asset owner or manager. However, it is the difference between meeting the cultural change that is needed or not,” he said.
Skelly added that exceeding minimum compliance standards is increasingly seen as both a safety expectation and a commercial differentiator in the post-Grenfell environment.
“Actions do speak louder than words. Adopting best practice above the minimum requirements of compliance can feel like an unnecessary step – yet it is a valuable USP for any business with a duty of care in the post Grenfell era,” he said.
Fire Aware said its members are joining to adopt its code of conduct and sector-specific charters designed to standardise expected behaviours across the supply chain.
The organisation said this is intended to create a more unified approach to competence, accountability and professional responsibility across the industry.
It also highlighted that fire risk is particularly acute in hospitality settings such as bars, restaurants and hotels, as well as healthcare environments where vulnerable occupants may require additional support during emergencies.
Fire Aware said its wider aim is to embed behavioural standards across the built environment by linking moral responsibility with professional practice and regulatory expectations.