Electrical safety policy

At Magna, we are totally committed to ensuring the safety of our customers, colleagues and others who work with us. Our approach to managing the risk of electrical safety is central to this commitment.

The purpose of this policy is to set out the principles that shape our electrical safety standards and procedures, ensuring that we meet, as a minimum, all legal and regulatory requirements in the way we design, construct, manage, service and maintain our homes.

Scope of this Policy

This policy applies to:

• All homes, estates, communal buildings and offices owned and managed by Magna Housing;

• All colleagues and those employed by Magna in the design, construction, management and maintenance of our homes;

• All managing agents or lessees who manage or maintain homes and estates on our behalf.

The policy specifically covers:

• Arrangements for all residential properties to have an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) that is no more than eight years old transitioning to five years old by the end of 2024

• Arrangements for all houses of multiple occupation (HMO) to have an 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 owned or managed by Magna to be checked and tested annually

• The design, construction and maintenance of our homes;

• Communication with customers on electrical safety measures and awareness.

Policy Statement

The safety of our customers, colleagues and contractors is at the heart of what we do at Magna. We are committed to ensuring that our arrangements to deliver the comprehensive range of electrical safety management activities described in the scope consistently meet legal and regulatory requirements and achieve our Regulator’s Consumer Standard, as an absolute minimum. Where appropriate we will strive to achieve what is considered to be industry best practice.

In delivering this policy objective we are committed to ensuring that all those 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 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 will follow the guidance in the code of practice for in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment for all portable appliances owned and maintained by Magna Housing.

We will maintain registration to an electrical certification body to ensure the ability to self-certify electrical work under the building regulations.

We are committed to building in a “golden thread” of quality from an electrical safety perspective through the early stages of design, through the construction phase into management and maintenance of our homes.

We will 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 will ensure that resources and funding required to deliver electrical safety related works are prioritised, taking into account a risk-based approach to the urgency of the work.

As a core safety service, we will ensure that performance on electrical safety activity is regularly scrutinised to ensure continuous improvement and to ensure that any lessons 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

It is a condition of individual tenancy agreements that customers must provide access to their properties for checks that we are required to do by law.

We will act appropriately and in accordance with regulatory and legal requirements in gaining access to premises to undertake electrical inspections and tests. In doing so, we will take into account 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 a property to undertake 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 are really clear about the standards we are working to when it comes to electrical safety management. We have developed an Electrical Safety Standard, which defines what we will do to promote electrical safety. The standard explains who is responsible for delivering the service and details how frequently we expect to carry out specific activities in customers’ homes, in common areas and on estates.

The standard is supported by a clear procedure and instructions to ensure that the services are delivered consistently by our internal teams 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 the accountable person in relation to all aspects of electrical safety management at Magna and is responsible for the development and review of the Electrical Safety Policy and Electrical Safety Standard, ensuring that these meet all regulatory requirements and guidance.

The Head of Building Safety and Compliance is responsible for operational delivery of electrical safety management activities, for maintaining accurate electrical safety related property data and is responsible for reporting on electrical safety management in line with governance arrangements. The Head of Building Safety and Compliance is responsible for ensuring that customers are effectively consulted on all aspects of electrical safety in their homes and estates.

All colleagues have a responsibility for ensuring that the work they undertake in delivering our policies and standards is fit for purpose.

Governance, Performance Management and Review

This policy, its associated standard and operational procedure will be monitored and reviewed by the Director of Customer Operations annually. The policy will be considered and approved annually by Board.

A range of performance measures and indicators, relating directly to the Electrical Safety Standard, are reported to managers and directors as appropriate. High level performance indicators are reported to Board on a regular basis in line with their approved balanced scorecard.

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 Board on corporate health and safety