National Social Housing Safety and Compliance Week to return in March with a call for the sector to ‘Challenge for Safety’

National Social Housing Safety and Compliance Week 2022 will take place 7-11 March. This year’s theme is ‘Challenge for Safety’.

The event is spearheaded by the Association of Safety and Compliance Professionals (ASCP). Dedicated to shining a spotlight on safety and compliance at an operational, strategic and cultural level, this week is an opportunity for the sector as a whole to come together to make homes safer than ever before.

The Week will consist of a series of educational and inspiring free online sessions, as well as the opportunity for individuals to publicly show commitment via the Challenge for Safety Wall. Organisations can also upload their logo to demonstrate support. The website features a comprehensive download section with various useful documents, as well as a social media toolkit, letter templates for MPs to request their support and communication for social landlord residents.

The week will kick off with the first online event dedicated to reviewing the progress of pledges made during last year’s inaugural National Social Housing Safety & Compliance Week. It will also see the premiere of an animation developed specifically to support organisations in engaging their residents in safety issues. Throughout the week further online events will explore issues including access challenges and solutions, safety leadership, implementation of housing management systems, and a personal development session on International Women’s Day dedicated to equality and working together to eliminate all forms of discrimination. The Week will close with an opportunity for organisations to host their own in-house ‘Challenge for Safety’ sessions, where residents can also get involved.

Claire Heyes, CEO of ASCP comments: “We passionately believe we must all take responsibility to avert potential disasters of the future by committing to small and large actions today and tomorrow. This campaign is about challenge, about speaking up when you see or hear something that doesn’t look or feel right or when you know that a decision made is not in the best interests of safety. It’s time to make our voices heard and challenge for safety. We want to support individuals and organisations in shaping the future roadmap and in shifting and strengthening safety culture across the sector, particularly in response to Dame Judith Hackitt’s calls for the sector to act faster and address safety cultural issues in the sector.

“We want to build on the success of last year – 600 places were booked on 6 online events and over 100 pledges were made under the ‘Pledge for Safety’ theme. This year we aim for a broader reach – to spread the message further across the sector and the wider supply chain.”

The overall message is – get involved! Show support for National Social Housing Safety and Compliance Week, and the Challenge for Safety theme. Book online events, upload your logo, declare that you will challenge for safety, share on social media. Join the conversation and let’s come together with the ultimate aim of keeping residents safe.