Why Every Person Working in the Block Sector Needs a Health & Safety Certification

Times Up on Learning Health and Safety on the Job says our Founder, Joe Mallon MRICS FTPI

If you work in a supervisory role in the management of blocks of flats, whether on the agent side, client side or contractor side, health and safety can no longer be something you have broadly picked up over time. You need the competence to make sound decisions, and you need to be able to verify that competence. If you oversee others in those roles, the duty is wider still. You must ensure they are competent, properly supervised and able to evidence it. HSE is clear that competence is a combination of training, skills, experience and knowledge, together with the ability to apply them safely. It also makes clear that people involved in the use, supervision or management of work equipment must be adequately trained. (HSE)

This matters because the sector is vast. In England alone, there were an estimated 4.83 million leasehold dwellings in 2023 to 2024, equivalent to 19% of the housing stock. A very large proportion of these are flats, meaning millions of homes sit within buildings where decisions about fire safety, contractor control, access, plant, roofs, communal areas and resident risk have to be made properly. (GOV.UK)

RICS has been clear for some time that health and safety is not an optional add-on to property practice. Its Surveying safely professional standard sets out good practice principles for RICS-regulated firms and members, and RICS also states that it develops and enforces standards to protect consumers and businesses through high levels of professionalism. At the same time, the pressure on capability is real. RICS’ Surveying Skills Report 2025 found that 51% of respondents in residential said skills shortages were reducing work capacity. In plain English, many teams are stretched, and stretched teams are more likely to rely on habit, assumptions and gaps in judgement. (RICS)

That is exactly why formal health and safety certification matters. Certifications such as IOSH Managing Safely, and other recognised programmes give businesses something structured, externally benchmarked and defensible. IOSH describes Managing Safely as its flagship course for managers and supervisors, designed to give them the knowledge and tools to tackle the health and safety issues they are responsible for. That matters because experience alone is not enough. In a compliance-heavy sector like block management, employers increasingly need evidence that people have been trained to a recognised standard, not just exposed to the issues over time. (HSE)

And this is not just about managing agents. Contractors working on blocks need appropriate certification because they are often the people physically delivering higher-risk tasks, accessing plant, working at height, handling electrical systems or influencing fire and building safety outcomes. Client-side directors, board members and decision-makers need appropriate certification because they are often approving budgets, prioritising works and shaping the standard of risk management across a building or estate. Agent-side leaders and supervisors need it because they sit in the middle, instructing contractors, advising clients and making day-to-day judgement calls that affect residents and buildings. Different roles may require different levels or types of training, but all three sides need some form of credible, current health and safety competence.

The stakes are obvious enough. HSE reports that 124 workers were killed in work-related accidents in Great Britain in 2024 to 2025, with falls from height accounting for 35 of those deaths. That does not mean block management is uniquely dangerous, but it does underline the wider point that poor controls, poor decisions and poor supervision still have serious consequences. (HSE)

So the message is simple. If your business manages blocks of flats, or plays any supervisory part in maintaining, governing or servicing them, learning on the job is no longer enough. Agent-side, client-side and contractor-side organisations all need people with real, current and evidenced health and safety competence. Certification is not the whole answer, but it is one of the clearest ways to prove that your people have a recognised foundation, that your business takes competence seriously, and that you are not relying on assumption where judgement and safety matter most.

You can sign team members up for Managing Safely here: https://www.theblockcoach.co.uk/iosh-approved-managing-safely-landing

Joe Mallon MRICS FTPI

Founder, The Block Coach