Close

Life GuardA practical framework for today's housing leaders

Why It Matters

Any resident death or serious injury is a Board-level crisis: a personal tragedy, reputational damage, and regulatory scrutiny.

After Grenfell, the question was: “How did this happen?” and “Could this happen to us?”

Our job is simple: keep tenants safe. Regulators act fast when safety is ignored.

"When people are not at the centre of fire safety design, it becomes dangerous."

Dr Barbara Lane Chartered Engineer and Fellow in Arup's global fire safety practice

The Problem

Landlords managing occupied homes are struggling with:

  • Risk assessments that miss critical safety issues.
  • Confusing, conflicting advice from regulators, fire services, insurers, and others.
  • Overwhelming numbers of outstanding safety actions
  • Shortage of skilled staff.
  • Difficulty showing that investments actually reduce risk.
  • New legal duties (e.g. Awaab’s Law) adding costs and complexity.
  • Safety systems with systemic flaws.
  • Wasted spending on safety is holding up building new homes.
Strategy_2

The Solution

The toolkit helps Boards and Cabinets:

  • Puts resident safety first.
  • Help you ask the right questions.
  • Move beyond “blind compliance” to thoughtful assurance.
  • Use triangulation — cross-checking data with tenant voices, near misses, audits, and complaints.
  • Build a culture where frontline staff and residents raise concerns openly.
  • Pragmatic and proportionate inventions ensuring value for money
1K9A5542_high_

This is how high-risk industries, such as Oil and Gas, turned failures into lasting safety cultures. We must do the same to prevent tragedies such as Grenfell, Lakanal House and Ronan Point.

The toolkit enables boards and cabinets to:

  • Identify and prioritise risks.
  • Measure how well risks are managed.
  • Focus spending on what really reduces harm.
  • Give confidence to residents, regulators, and boards/cabinets.

What it Covers

  • Residents – their needs and vulnerabilities.
  • Homes – design, structure, risks.
  • Maintenance & operation – systems and practices to keep people safe.
Modern_Agile_Development_Processes_Infographic_Presentation_A4

The Life Guard framework protects lives, reputations and strengthens the sector.

From Compliance to Life-Safety-First

Vibrant_Purple_and_Modern_Problem_and_Solution_Table_Graph

The Four-Stage Framework: From Knowledge to Assurance

How Much Do We Know?

Where Are Our Biggest Risks?

How Much Do We Know?

  • Assess quality and completeness of building safety data across all stock.
  • Identify top ten resident safety risks in the portfolio.
  • Test data validity with low-cost, statistically representative sample audits.
  • Avoid myths: fire risk assessment actions are not complete assurance; the most serious hazards may be undocumented.

Key question: Do we know enough to act decisively and proportionately?

Where Are Our Biggest Risks?

  • Convert raw data into insight for prioritisation.
  • Avoid fixation on topical risks (e.g. cladding) if more urgent hazards exist (e.g. defective fire doors, inadequate fire compartmentation).
  • Recognise the legal ramifications and reputational exposure of boards under the Building Safety Act.
  • Actively engage residents as informed partners in risk identification.

Key question: Have we identified and ranked the real hazards, not just the visible ones?

untitled-9

Want to see the full guide?

Learn how the Life-Safety-First Framework can help safeguard your people while strengthening organisational resilience. Download the full report below for in-depth insights and practical guidance.

    Keep in Touch