News: Industrial

The WELL Health-Safety Rating: what do you need to know?

The new WELL Health-Safety Rating helps create healthier and safer buildings for all users. In this post, we explain how owners and occupiers of all building types can use it today.

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The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) has published its new WELL Health-Safety Rating. This certification is recommended by TFT as a tool to prepare workplaces and other facilities for use in a post-COVID-19 environment thanks to its specific and practical guidance, which can help build trust among building users and visitors as we transition to increased building usage and seek to mitigate future risks.

TFT is embedding these principals, published by the IWBI, for our offices and in best practice guides for our clients. Our teams are here to help occupier organisations and building owners understand the certification and provide a higher standard of well-being by applying it.

What is the WELL Health-Safety Rating?

The WELL Health-Safety Rating is an evidence based and third-party verified rating for all new and existing building and facility types. The rating focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols, occupant engagement and emergency plans across six themes, including:

  • Cleaning and Sanitization Procedures
  • Emergency Preparedness Programs
  • Health Service Resources
  • Air and Water Quality Management
  • Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
  • Innovation

The full set of requirements are now available on wellcertified.com.

Get in touch with our team to find out how those apply to your organisation or building.

Does the WELL Health-Safety Rating deal with COVID-19 risks?

The IWBI is clear that the latest certification doesn’t make an organisation or building COVID-proof. However, it was developed in response to the pandemic and details interventions at a building and organisation scale which help reduce the risk of infectious diseases transmission. Furthermore, the strategies it contains apply to numerous health and safety issues relevant today and in the future.

What types of building can attain the WELL Health-Safety Rating?

The rating applies to any type of building, as well as any type of single-use or single-owner space within a building. Multi-use spaces such as stadiums, airports and shopping malls can also be certified by the same themes, but the application would take a different form due to differing requirements for the various uses of the space.

WELL Health-Safety rating applies to all building types, including office, restaurant, hospitality, education, retail and industrial sectors

Will it help me achieve a full WELL certification for my building?

Yes! While the Health-Safety Rating is a certification in its own right, and achieving it is a significant step for an organisation’s well-being journey, it will also support an application to become fully WELL-certified.

Given that it deals with a very immediate concern for employees and other building users, embarking on this process is timely and a good future-proofing step for your building or organisation.

Do you have other questions about the latest rating from WELL? Get in touch to learn how it could help you progress your organisation’s well-being journey.

My MIPIM: Dan Henn

As we start to imagine the sand between our toes and the smell of the fresh ocean air, we spoke to another TFT MIPIM attendee, Dan Henn (Partner and Head of Development & Project Consultancy) to get his view on regional trends and how to seize the opportunities MIPIM has to offer.

What has changed the most in the industry, since MIPIM 2018?

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the property and construction world seems to be more or less business as usual. There was a hiatus of decision making in the industry after the May 2017 general election but eventually those time-bound decisions that weren’t being made (which were becoming urgent) had to be made – and the work continues apace.

What would you like to see more (or less) of at MIPIM 2019?

More sunshine and less rain!

What industry topic isn’t getting enough attention?

Retail parks. We are all very used to hearing about the high street and the need to keep up with the pace of the changing consumer behaviour, as our shopping habits become more online-oriented. Will retail parks fall by the wayside, will they become more important, or take a new form altogether?

We’re seeing such a demand across other burgeoning sectors (industrial, logistics, build to rent and senior living) – they represent a wealth of opportunities to re-purpose poorly trading sites into an alternative high performing asset.

What regional trends would you like to explore at MIPIM?

I’m interested in the booming market in the midlands. Following an uptick of activity TFT is investing in project management and cost consultancy resources to match client demand for our services across the region.

Elsewhere, there are interesting micro-markets in London where demand for offices is still strong and fuelling development.

What should every MIPIM first-timer do, or not do?

Don’t fill your diary up too much! The temptation is to accept every offer going in a hope to make sure that you are fully occupied. The real value is in those chance meetings walking along La Croisette or queuing for a drink at the London stand.

On a similar note, avoid those tempting lunches at a fantastic venue but out in the sticks. As nice as they are, they can take you away from the hub where those chance conversations are happening.

TFT provides TDD on 300-year-old Sheffield site

TFT has provided Technical Due Diligence (TDD) as part of the sale of premium gardening, agricultural and giftware products Burgon & Ball to Canadian company Venanpri Tools.

Burgon & Ball has been making hand sheep shears on the same site in Sheffield since 1730 and have produced around 25 million pairs in that time. We are delighted to have been involved in assessing this historic, landmark building. Our TDD rigour, experience of working with heritage building fabrics and commercial outlook have been invaluable for informing the transaction process. TFT were instructed by Environmental Consultants Delta Simons.