Table of contents for Issue 3-2023 in Facility Management

You only have to show most people the iconic shape of the sails and they would instantly recognise the Sydney Opera House. Since the unveiling of the finished structure in 1973, the landmark has come to symbolise not only a vibrant performing arts scene, but modern Australia itself. Every year, 11 million people visit the precinct and around 1500 performances take place inside the Sydney Opera House. “The public feels like they own the building,” says the building operations manager Dean Jakubowski. “They're part of the building.” Perhaps no one is more enmeshed with the fabric of the Opera House than Jakubowski. He has shot fireworks off its peak on New Year’s Eve, helped execute filming on the Forecourt for Jackie Chan, and every five years Jakubowski scales the sails…

When IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) set out to research the state of gender parity in FM, its goal was to understand three important things. One: has gender diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in facilities management changed over the last decade? Two: what factors are helping to improve DEI in FM? And three: what factors are inhibiting it? Women have historically been underrepresented in FM. As the profession develops – in its legitimacy and what it means – it’s also important to take stock of shifts in workplace gender balance, among other improvements to DEI. In April 2021, IFMA and a research foundation called Simplar gathered 3557 survey responses from IFMA members and non-members globally to investigate gender balance. They also looked at previous IFMA and Royal Institution of Chartered…

For facility managers, most have taken non-traditional career paths. Perhaps it’s the road a little less travelled, or perhaps the profession attracts a certain kind of person. One thing is for sure: you can’t just get by on technical knowledge. Facility management is a demanding profession and you need a diverse range of tools in your belt ready to whip out at any given point. In today’s hybrid workforce, the pace of change has never been faster. From keeping buildings clean and functional through to re-evaluating the use of real estate, FMs are the silent forefront of the ‘new normal’, and it takes a special set of skills to be this person. To top this off, every FM position is also slightly different from the next, meaning the necessary capabilities…

The Andrews Labor Government is moving to fulfil an election promise to spend $23 million providing free period products in public places. Labor has promised to fund 1500 free pad and tampon dispensers at up to 700 public sites, including public hospitals, courts, TAFEs, public libraries, train stations and major cultural institutions like the State Library of Victoria and the Melbourne Museum. It follows the Government’s move to make period products free at Victorian public schools in 2020. At last year’s election, Labor promised to start the new policy from 1 July 2023 and deliver it through a third party responsible for the installation, refill and maintenance of the dispensers. The Guardian has since obtained the Government’s expressions of interest documents for businesses to develop dispensing machines, install and replenish…

The standards and legislation for the built environment, although imperfect, are generally designed to support access for people with physical disabilities – whether they have mobility, vision or hearing impairments. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects people with disability in Australia from discrimination, which flows into the National Construction Code (NCC) and regulates equitable access where safe and where it doesn’t cause ‘unjustifiable hardship’ to provide it. Designing with access for neurodiversity in mind is not addressed in these guidelines, but the practice is emerging despite that. “Design for neurodiversity is definitely a growing area as people are more aware of people who have Autism or other forms of neurodiversity, such as Alzheimer's, ADHD, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome or post-traumatic stress disorder,” says Ellen Naismith, an access consultant…

There are many options for facility managers to consider when choosing the right product, including materials and smart features for both indoor and outdoor blinds. To help us make sense of this niche trade, we spoke to Amelia Taylor, a member of the board of directors at the Blind Manufacturers' Association of Australia (BMAA). Read on for a window into the current state of blinds in 2023. HOW FAR HAVE BLINDS COME? Blind technology has advanced significantly over the past 50 years, providing greater convenience and energy efficiency, as well as a wider range of options for FMs, architects, builders and consumers. The first key advancement has been motorisation. According to the BMAA, motorised blinds and shades have become increasingly popular. They often run on batteries and can be operated…

Major public health emergencies, such as COVID-19 and the re-emergence of the flu, have pushed the workplace dangers of other, highly transmissible blood-borne diseases off the front page in recent times – but they haven’t gone away. We now have more than 230,000 people in Australia estimated to be living with Chronic Hepatitis B, for example, according to the most recent figures from the Doherty Institute. These show incidence of the disease has risen to represent 0.90 percent of the population. A big figure. Better treatments are available to people with Hepatitis B (HBV) or other blood-borne viruses like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) when compared with decades past. But we need to recognise that such diseases are the tip of the iceberg of infections that can be spread in workplaces,…

Almost three-quarters of CBD-based employees have settled into a weekly routine of working from the office two to three days per week, according to the latest office occupancy survey by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). The VCCI canvassed small, medium, large and family CBD-based businesses across a range of sectors and compared them with benchmarking surveys conducted in June and November 2022. Key findings include: • The number of employees working from the office three to four days per week has increased from 41 percent in November 2022 to 46 percent in March 2023.• The number of employees working five days in the office has dropped from 19 percent in November 2022 to eight percent in March 2023. These trends coincide with 76 percent of employers reporting…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly critical to the FM sector. From smart building technology that can remotely control a building’s energy use and automatically detect an unresponsive elevator, to IoT (Internet of Things)-powered air quality sensors and surveillance systems, AI has already helped facility managers reduce costs and increase efficiency. But the latest development in AI – ChatGPT – carries the potential to profoundly impact the practice of FM as we know it today, stirring both excitement and apprehension from industry professionals. Developed by US-based company OpenAI, ChatGPT is a powerful online chatbot that produces sophisticated original content in response to just about any prompt it receives, whether it be drafting an important letter to tenants or creating a schedule to better manage contractors. The FM industry is not the…

Arecent report from the Property Council of Australia shows that while employees are going back to the office, that number varies by region. Of the major metropolitan areas, Melbourne has the lowest office occupancy rate of 46 percent, while Peth CBD is much higher at 81 percent. It’s difficult to generalise working patterns across all states of Australia (and, if the last three years have taught us anything, it’s foolish to make definite predictions about their future). Businesses are still figuring out their workplace strategies, as well as the ongoing risk assessments associated with the pandemic, but one thing is clear – flexible work is here to stay for a lot of people. This brings about a new set of challenges from the pre-pandemic workplace, and FM teams are right…

AUSTRALIAN CLEAN ENERGY SUMMIT 2023 WHERE: ICC Sydney  WHEN: 18-19 July 2023 australiancleanenergysummit.com.au CEMAT AUSTRALIA WHERE: The Dome, Sydney Olympic Park  WHEN: 25-27 July 2023 cemat.com.au AUSTRALASIAN WASTE AND RECYCLING EXPO WHERE: ICC Sydney WHEN: 26-27 July 2023 awre.com.au SECURITY EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE WHERE: ICC Sydney WHEN: 30 August – 1 September 2023 securityexpo.com.au WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY SHOW WHERE: Sydney Showground, Olympic Park WHEN: 20 - 21 September 2023 whsshow.com.au FM SUMMIT AOTEAROA 2023 WHERE: Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre WHEN: 20-21 September 2023 fmsummit.org MELBOURNE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SHOW WHERE: Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre WHEN: 22-24 September 2023 melbourneelectricvehicleshow.com.au…