Everything You Need to Know About Hard Facilities Management

Hard Facility Management (HFM) relates to the management of the physical aspects of a workplace, including areas such as lighting and ventilation.  Its primary purpose should be to ensure that a company doesn’t fall foul of the legal requirements set out in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. However, effective HFM can offer a great deal more than this and should contribute significantly to raising staff moral and reducing costs.

Indeed, as a result of a growing awareness of the benefits accrued from effective HFM, many businesses are now choosing to outsource this area to specialist facility management companies, drawing on their knowledge and expertise.

Implications of the Workplace Regulations (1992) Act

Under the 1992 Workplace Regulations employers are responsible for ensuring that the workplace area under their control and where any of their employees works complies with the requirements of the Regulations.

These requirements include that of ensuring that equipment, devices and systems are clean and in good repair and in efficient working order. The Regulation also requires that they are subject to a “suitable system of maintenance”.  This requirement embraces all ventilation, heating and lighting systems. Regarding heating, there is the stipulation that a sufficient number of thermometers are provided to determine the temperature in the different work areas.

In the area of lighting, the regulations require that sufficient emergency lighting is provided in any room or area where a worker might be particularly at risk in the event of a failure in the artificial lighting.

Under the regulation, all rooms, furniture, furnishings and fittings must be kept clean and waste materials not allowed to accumulate other than in appropriate receptacles.

Health and safety measures are required to avoid falls or falling objects and risks from poisonous and corrosive substances, gas and vapours, scalds and burns and granular and free-flowing solid or viscous substances.

The 1992 Workplace Regulations also outline safety measures that need to be undertaken in the areas of windows, skylights, ventilators, transparent or translucent doors, gates, walls, traffic routes, escalators, sanitary and washing facilities, changing facilities and eating facilities.

Failure to meet the requirements of these Regulations is a crime and can be punished through extensive fines, or if an employee is injured as a result of negligence, the consequences for the employer can be even more severe.  There is also a real danger of the business being shut down until the failures have been addressed, potentially causing serious damage to the business’s reputation.

In order to avoid all the negative aspects of failing to meet the many requirements of the Regulations, businesses need to effectively manage their Hard Facilities. Self-management of Hard Facilities can, however, be costly and complex. For this reason, outsourcing to a HFM specialist has become a pragmatic solution, allowing industry experts to bring in best practice, consistency and a single point of contact to each element of HFM.

What is Hard Facility Management?

Whatever the business, there are likely to be common HFM needs. The first of these is to have a planned and reactive maintenance schedule that ensures a background level of quality control as well as reacting to any isolated incidents or faults.

HFM is about ensuring that all mechanical and electrical equipment is regularly serviced and maintained to provide optimum efficiency and to be safe at all times. Included in this brief will be HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning) servicing and lift maintenance. Another crucial role of HFM is power system services which includes the normal power, electrical substations, switchgear, emergency power systems and standby generators.

Areas such as roofing, and guttering, should also form part of the HFM brief as they can have a direct impact on the delivery of the requirements of the Working Place Regulations. So too does the management of water hygiene, which should also come under the remit of HFM, ensuring that water supplies meet hygiene requirements.

Fire prevention is an essential aspect to providing a safe environment for workers and HFM ensures that fire-fighting equipment is appropriately located and regularly serviced in accordance with manufacturer’s guidelines. Sprinkler systems, smoke/fire alarms, exit signs and emergency lighting can also be regularly inspected through HFM and work orders issued to electricians to solve any deficiencies noted on examination reports.

HFM companies can also manage cleaning contracts, ensuring high standards of cleaning at competitive costs and set up Measured Terms Contracts (MTC) on Painting and Decorating.

The Benefits of Hard Facility Management

One of the principal benefits of HFM is the creating and operating of a planned maintenance schedule across all areas of FM. This can, for example, dramatically enhance the energy efficiency of buildings through such aspects as choosing the most effective supplier (HFM companies can negotiate contracts and manage procurement processes from end to end), to ensuring a reduction in heat loss from premises. As a result of these initiatives, reduced utilities bills and an improved environmental footprint can be achieved.

Effective management of HF will lengthen a premise’s operational lifespans and will reduce the risk of small problems in condition escalating into costly incidents. By having HFM services in place, a business ensures that their physical assets are kept in optimum condition for the long-term.

A significant benefit of HFM is achieved when a long-term strategic approach is taken alongside the day-to-day management of facilities. For example, HFM can be directly involved in building design, providing consultancy services on the design and development of any new buildings together with liaising and negotiating with third parties. HFM can also take on building regulation applications by providing support with the development, submission and amendment process relating to any building regulation application.

The benefit of outsourcing rather than self-management is that it avoids HFM taking resources away from the core business activities. By outsourcing some or all of the HFM as an integrated service, it alleviates the pressure of trying to keep up to date with changing requirements and also frees up internal resources to focus on the core business.

Learn More with MFM Group

HFM services are, at their best, preventive, planned, reactive and compliance associated.

They leverage organizations and business in order that they work effectively, smoothly and efficiently. The outsourcing of HFM can provide a business with the assurance that it is utilising specialist skills and experience that are either absent in the workforce or are with those who should ideally be focussed on the core purpose of the business.

To learn about our hard facilities management services here at MFM Group, simply get in touch today.