A Day In The Life Of Shaun Fordham

As Building Services Manager, Shaun Fordham oversees the team responsible for keeping Homerton ticking. From fi tting out new buildings to responding to leaks and power cuts, he takes us through a typical day.

The consultants were able to clearly articulate FFI’s role within the wider conservation movement, and celebrated the value of our relatively modest size, stating that we appeared to combine some of the best characteristics of being a big organisation with those of being small. The report also reiterated our own internal perspectives of FFI’s unique role, which focuses on “(i) collaboration through lasting partnerships, (ii) leadership through innovative models, and (iii) a lean entrepreneurial style allowing fast and fl exible engagement on critical issues.”

I usually arrive in College at 7 in the morning, and we meet as a team over a coffee before the shift starts at 7.30. I manage a team of seven, and they’re the ones that make my job possible. First thing we look at the emails that have come in overnight and share out the jobs. There are usually about half a dozen overnight requests, ranging from lightbulbs that need replacing to leaky taps and blocked sinks and showers, right through to massive issues like ceilings coming down because the bathroom above has flooded!

8–10am

We have up to 30 reactive jobs a day, which we can’t plan for. Any request comes into the Estates email address for me or Sarah (Culhane, Estates Secretary) to pick up. We then allocate jobs to the team through their phones – they get an alert. They do a live risk assessment when they get to the job; just a quick checklist of yes or no questions but the moment you flag a no it sends an alert so we can check what the problem is.

I brought in the new risk assessment system when I joined three years ago, alongside an alarm system to protect people working alone. There are 26 acres of College grounds, and we have plant rooms underground and in loft spaces. One of the team had a heart attack in a plant room, and it was sheer luck someone found him. Everyone now has a man down alarm: basically a tracker with a panic button which allows you to alert the switchboard if you need help. There were some grumbles when we first brought it in – ‘oh you’re keeping track of me’ – but it’s not that, it’s just taking responsibility for people’s safety.

10am–12pm

Alongside the reactive jobs, we have maintenance schedules for the bigger equipment. We maintain all the boilers and heating systems around the site, and the plumber checks them all each day. We’re also responsible for all the lighting – there are over 2000 emergency lights that have to be tested monthly – and we do a quarterly deep clean of over 1000 showerheads. There’s a 10-year plan to refurbish all 750 bedrooms.

I joined Homerton in November 2019, so was still new when the pandemic hit. The College is massive, so I was still learning how everything worked. We used the absence of students and staff to do a lot of big projects which would otherwise have been much more complicated, such as refurbishing the top floor of the ABC rooms. Also the North Wing was just being completed, so it gave us time to get that sorted.

We maintained the full team throughout the pandemic, acting as one bubble for most of it, and in two teams working half days when Covid was at its peak, to avoid the whole team having to isolate. We’ve got two electricians, two multi-skilled team members, one plumber and another who can do most of the plumbing jobs, and Raj who covers for me and is also the carpenter/joiner, so we’re nicely split to be able to work as two groups when we have to.

The maintenance team

12–1pm

The team always eat together, and if I’m around I’ll eat with them too, or with other staff. My office is always open to anyone.

We do much more internal work ourselves now than we used to, such as refurbs and bigger projects. There’ll always be a certain amount that you have to outsource, as there are only eight of us, but you get more out of the job if there’s something substantial we can look at and say “we’ve done that”. A trained electrician with 30 years’ experience doesn’t want to be spending all day changing lightbulbs. The guys all have their own skillsets, so with ongoing projects, such as a bathroom refit, they all work together.

1–2pm

Since the new sports facilities opened on Long Road, two of the team will go over there on a Monday afternoon to check everything’s working. The new dining hall took all our labour for a month when it first opened, sorting any teething problems – everything from making sure the lighting and alarms were working to fitting all the toilet roll holders.

2–3pm

I can do a little bit of everything but I’m more of a manager than a trade. That took a bit of getting used to for the team when I first started, but I think they now realise they needed a manager rather than another pair of hands. I can deflect a lot of stuff that would otherwise come their way, so they can get on with the job. It’s all about the team; they’re very behind the scenes and they don’t always get the recognition they deserve. People tend to think we come in in the morning and flick a switch and everything works.

John, the plumber, has piped pretty much the whole College on his own. He’s been here for years and when he retires we won’t know how anything works! It’s not an easy feat to replace someone who’s been here that long. We need to bring in someone younger now, so John can empty his head into theirs.

4pm

We finish at 4pm, depending on the day. Obviously if I’m in a meeting I’m in a meeting, but generally that’s the end of the working day. Before coming here I was a construction manager on the railways. It was 100 miles an hour job, working nights, Christmases, always away. I’ve got five kids, aged 17 down to six, so it’s good to be around a bit more. Weekends are all about the kids, and football!