Electrical safety policy
Introduction
At Magna, we’re committed to ensuring the safety of our customers, colleagues and others who work with us.
This policy sets out our electrical safety standards and procedures, ensuring that we meet all legal and regulatory requirements in the way we design, construct, manage, service and maintain our homes.
Who this policy applies to and what it covers
This policy applies to:
- All homes, estates, communal buildings and offices that we own and manage.
- All colleagues and anyone else we employ in the design, construction, management and maintenance of our homes.
The policy specifically covers:
- Arrangements for all homes to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) that is no more than five years old.
- Arrangements for all communal electrical installations to have an EICR that is no more than five years old.
- Arrangements for all electrically operated portable appliances that we own or manage to be checked and tested annually.
- Communication with customers on electrical safety measures and awareness.
Our Electrical Safety Policy
The safety of our customers, colleagues and contractors is at the heart of what we do. We’re committed to ensuring that our electrical safety management activities meet legal and regulatory requirements and achieve our Regulator’s Consumer Standard.
We’re committed to ensuring that everyone involved in managing electrical safety at Magna demonstrate the appropriate competency levels and, where necessary, third-party accreditation. To comply with the various regulations and acts relating to electrical safety, inspections, and works carried out, we will consider the requirements in the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Wiring Regulations BS7671:2018 for the testing and inspection of fixed wiring installations and take a risk-based approach to the testing interval.
We follow the guidance in the code of practice for in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment for all portable appliances that we own and maintain.
We will maintain registration to an electrical certification body to ensure the ability to self-certify electrical work under the building regulations.
We’re committed to ensuring electrical safety in our new homes, through the early stages of design, in the construction phase and in the management and maintenance of our homes.
We’ll consult with customers on electrical safety related activities, inform them about the outcome of assessments, ensure awareness, provide advice and listen and respond to any safety related concerns.
The safety of our customers is paramount. We’ll ensure that resources and funding required to deliver electrical safety works are prioritised, taking into account a risk-based approach to the urgency of the work.
We’ll ensure that performance on electrical safety is regularly scrutinised to ensure continuous improvement and to ensure that any lessons learnt are embedded.
We will install and maintain adequate domestic smoke detection in accordance with our domestic automatic fire detection procedure, which has been developed to incorporate new legislation, The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Regulations 2022.
Gaining access for electrical inspections and tests
Tenancy agreements state that customers must provide access to their homes for checks that we’re required to do by law.
We’ll act appropriately and in accordance with regulatory and legal requirements in gaining access to carry out electrical inspections and tests. We will consider the customer(s) circumstances before initiating legal action against a customer who fails to allow access for this purpose.
If our colleagues or contractors are unable to gain access to carry out the electrical inspection or test, we may seek to obtain an injunction from the local county court. An order for costs may be sought as part of any injunction.
Our Electrical Safety Standard and Procedure
We want to make sure that we’re really clear about the standards we’re working to when it comes to electrical safety management. We’ve developed an Electrical Safety Standard which defines what we’ll do to promote electrical safety, who is responsible for delivering the service and how frequently we will carry out specific activities in customers’ homes, in communal areas and on our estates.
The standard is supported by a clear procedure and instructions to ensure that the services are delivered consistently by our colleagues and by specialist contractors. The standard and procedure are kept under constant review to ensure they are fit for purpose in a fast-changing environment.
Responsibilities for Electrical Safety Management
The Director of Customer Operations is accountable for all aspects of electrical safety management at Magna and for the development and review of the Electrical Safety Policy and Electrical Safety Standard annually, ensuring that these meet all regulatory requirements and guidance.
The Head of Building Safety, Compliance and Home Services is responsible for operational delivery of electrical safety management activities, maintaining accurate electrical safety data and for reporting on electrical safety management in line with governance arrangements. They’re also responsible for ensuring that customers are effectively consulted on all aspects of electrical safety in their homes and estates.
All colleagues are responsible for ensuring that the work they carry out meets our policies and standards.
This policy will be considered and approved annually by our Strategic Board.
A range of performance measures and indicators, relating directly to the Electrical Safety Standard, will be agreed and reported to managers and directors as appropriate. High level performance indicators will be reported to Strategic Board on a regular basis.
Our performance on electrical safety, including lessons learned from incidents will form part of the quarterly report to the Health and Safety Forum and will be included in the annual report to Strategic Board on corporate health and safety.