The Duties of a Facility Management Professional and Their Influence on an Optimal Working Environment

Even in times when mobility and working from home play an increasingly important role in our daily working lives, we still spend a large proportion of our time in the premises of the company or business for which we work. There are professionals responsible for the setup of these premises, their maintenance and care, whose responsibilities go far beyond those traditionally known as caretaker duties. To understand the influence a facility management professional has on the working environment in a company, we must first ask: What is facility management, and what does the term mean? We can then gain an overview of the tasks faced by personnel in this sector and the opportunities available to a committed facility management professional to set up and maintain the working environment for which they are responsible as effectively as possible.

What is facility management?

The Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon puts it succinctly: Facility management (the general abbreviation, and “FM” below), also known in German as building management, [...] “deals with the suitability and economic efficiency of buildings and facilities throughout their entire life cycle. The aim is to adapt buildings and facilities to the people working there and the operational requirements in order to achieve the greatest possible value creation from the interaction of all a company’s resources.” In other words, it is about the most efficient use possible of facilities and premises. The aim is therefore to use these resources optimally in terms of cost, time and quality. However, this applies not only to the premises, but also to the people working in this environment. Since FM represents a separate academic discipline in Germany (and Europe) and is offered as a degree program at universities, we can use this to help us gain an overview of the core activities. According to the Technische Akademie Wuppertal   these include:

• Construction and maintenance of electrical systems
• Energy management
• Assuming operator responsibility
• Provision of information and communication technology
• Occupational safety measures for employees
• Building cleaning
• Supply and disposal
• Allocation of areas for the effective use of available space

In the final part of this article, we will look more closely at what is meant by activities related to assuming operator responsibility and implementing occupational safety measures. First, however, we want to examine the specific duties of a facility management professional in order to then gain an understanding of the influence these professionals have on creating an optimal working environment.

The duties of an FM professional using a case study

“Facility management encompasses the planning and management of all support processes (see p. 12), which, although not directly part of an organization’s core activities and therefore not directly part of its value creation processes, nevertheless influence its effectiveness and efficiency at least indirectly.” The broad spectrum of activities mentioned in the previous section already suggests that these support processes are highly diverse and depend to a great extent on the type of facilities and premises and the industry in which the respective company operates. To illustrate this, it is therefore necessary to clarify the duties of an FM professional using an example. Let us look at the work of a warehouse operative, which we have already discussed in greater detail in an earlier article:

Warehouse operatives primarily perform logistical tasks. They accept goods from a freight forwarding company, store them under specific environmental conditions depending on the type of goods to be stored, update the computer-based inventory system and either transport the goods for further processing within the company or prepare them for onward transport to other companies. What these activities have in common is that they require the use of transport equipment such as pallet trucks, overhead cranes, etc., which also creates an increased need for suitable protective clothing and footwear. Wherever machinery is used, there is always a risk of injury and consequently of workers being absent. In this respect, we already have an understanding of what was meant by the previously mentioned operator responsibility. On the one hand, the operator must ensure that personnel are equipped with the required protective clothing. On the other hand, according to TÜV NORD and VDI 3810: “Operator responsibility is the legal obligation to operate a facility, a building unit, another source of danger or an area with opportunities for use by the public (public traffic) safely.” We will learn more about this in the next section.

What influence do FM professionals have on the working environment?

FM professionals must assume operator responsibility and maintain facilities and premises in accordance with the applicable safety requirements. This also includes occupational safety measures for employees. “Occupational safety encompasses all measures (structural, technical and organizational) required to ensure the safety of employees and third-party service providers throughout the entire area of responsibility” (see page 3). FM professionals are therefore responsible for ensuring that all facilities and systems function flawlessly from a technical perspective at all times and that the environmental conditions enable all employees to work safely and as comfortably as possible. Professionals move around and within the facilities every day to carry out the aforementioned support processes and maintenance work , working under a wide range of environmental conditions. “In view of the rapid pace of work and constant movement, facility management employees are particularly at risk of slipping and falling. The likelihood of an accident caused by slipping and falling, and consequently of an injury in the workplace, is therefore particularly high here.” For this reason, Shoes For Crews has developed a wide range of shoes specifically tailored to the needs of facility management professionals. We invite you to take a look at our range. We would also be happy to advise you personally when choosing the safety shoe best suited to your business.