Blind Box Ticking

Anyone in FM reading about the incident at Old Trafford on the last day of the 2015 – 16 Premier League season will no doubt have a differing point of view of other members of the public. As the reality unfolded that the evacuation of 75,000 people, two football teams, hundreds of match day staff and a pack of sniffer dogs wagging their tails having won their own game that day – rested on the shoulders of one man. That man, Chris Reid – head of Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd, was then thrust in front of cameras who have not left him alone since.

“So, how can a former Scotland Yard police officer simply ‘forget’ about a mock pipe bomb in the toilets after a training exercise?” I can hear the public screaming as they return home, still clad in scarfs and draped in disappointment.

The answer is somewhere between an off day, incompetent members of the team (including himself) and complacency.

This highlights for me the need for genuine Facilities Management and huge importance of contractor management. Engineers, cleaners and security staff are ticking boxes job after job, day after day and we all know that where humans are involved, mistakes are always going to be made and things will be missed. It is the role of FM to audit the documentation, refocus contractors when they take their eye off the ball and remind them of the fact that partnerships are great but complacency will result in a change.

Spare a thought for Chris, he is the face of a team of people that have ticked boxes without looking up from the page.

Ian Robertson – CEO, Propertyserve