“This tragedy shows us that we must cherish and protect everyone in our society, and that safety should not just be the preserve of the wealthy.”
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, 4 September 2024
Just before 01:00 BST on 14 June 2017, a fire broke out in the kitchen of a fourth floor flat in the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, west London. Within minutes, it had spread to cladding that had been added to the 23-storey building’s exterior in a recent renovation.
By 03:00, it had engulfed all four sides of the block. Most of the upper floors were well alight.
In total, the fire killed 72 people and destroyed 151 homes in the tower and surrounding areas.
In its wake, questions were raised about whether the cladding had contributed to the fire’s spread and whether sufficient safety measures had been in place.
Today the second Inquiry report into the fire has been published.
The 1700 page report is damning:
Manufacturers of cladding products were “by far the largest contributor” to the fire and were found to have engaged in “systematic dishonesty”, and used “deliberate and sustained strategies” to make their products appear safe.
Arconic, the company which made the cladding panels on the tower’s exterior, are found to have “deliberately concealed” the safety risk.
Two firms which produced insulation - Celotex and Kingspan - were found to have “misled”.
“Incompetent” companies involved in the 2011 refurbishment of the tower – Studio E and Harley Facades – are found to bear “significant” responsibility for the disaster, while project manager Rydon’s oversight of the work led to a culture of “buck-passing”.
“Many opportunities” to address the risks posed by flammable cladding were missed by governments from the early 1990s onwards, culminating in “decades of failure”.
The 2010 coalition government is strongly criticised for its focus on cutting regulation, which led to safety matters being “ignored, delayed or disregarded”.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council and its social housing arm, the Tenant Management Organisation, had a “persistent indifference to fire safety, particularly the safety of vulnerable people”.
London Fire Brigade lacked a strategy to evacuate the building once they had lost control, and had an “unfounded assumption” the type of blaze which occurred at Grenfell Tower could not happen.
Recommendations number 58, but include:
Buildings regulation to be under a single independent body, headed by a construction regulator, with one secretary of state responsible for the issue in government
The government appoint a Chief Construction Adviser with a sufficient budget and staff to provide advice on all matters affecting the construction industry
A licensing scheme operated by the construction regulator be introduced for principal contractors wishing to undertake the construction or refurbishment of higher-risk buildings and that it be a legal requirement that any application for building control approval for the construction or refurbishment of a higher-risk building be supported by a personal undertaking from a director or senior manager of the principal contractor to take all reasonable care to ensure that on completion and handover the building is as safe as is required by the Building Regulations.
The government appoint an independent panel to consider whether it is in the public interest for building control functions to be performed by those who have a commercial interest in the process.
The government establish a system of mandatory accreditation to certify the competence of fire risk assessors by setting standards for qualification and continuing professional development and such other measures as may be considered necessary or desirable. This accreditation system should be mandatory in order to ensure the competence of all those who offer their services as fire risk assessors.
Fire safety guidance (Approved Document B) to the construction industry to be rewritten, with a fire safety strategy submitted with any application to construct or refurbish any higher risk building
Define “higher risk building” in law
Local authorities train all their employees, including chief executives, to regard resilience as an integral part of their responsibilities.
All local authorities make such arrangements as are reasonably practicable for enabling them to place people in temporary accommodation at short notice and in ways that meet their personal, religious and cultural requirements. Such arrangements should, as far as possible, involve local providers of social housing.
Better and more transparent fire safety testing of materials and designs
Having found major problems with the fire service, the inquiry backs the setting up of a College of Fire and Rescue to improve training
Consider whether individual fire fighters should be allowed to use their own initiative
“I want to say very clearly from the whole country, you have been let down so badly - before, during and in the aftermath of this tragedy."
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
Sources:
Grenfell's path to disaster: How chain of failures and 'systematic dishonesty' led to 72 deaths https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgedv58e7ygo)
Grenfell Inquiry website and reports: https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk
Our blog post on the first report: https://www.kshsafety.com/single-post/2019/11/04/grenfell-phase1
KSH SAFETY SERVICES COMMENT:
It is a national disgrace that anyone should have died on 14 June 2017 in Grenfell Tower. The warnings were there. The actions and blame culture over a long period of time from many different people and organisations is appalling.
The way the residents were treated and the way they were thought of by those in charge of their safety, is, unfortunately, from experience, not unique to Grenfell. Having worked in local authority housing, I have sadly seen the disregard many in control are with tenants.
The warnings were there for at least 25 years before the disaster, starting with a fire in Knowsley. The spaghetti of blame that the report has untangled shows what a shambles it is from all involved.
I trust that, unlike other disasters, it is not a quarter of a century before actions are put in place and justice is served.
The fire at Grenfell Tower is one of the worst health and safety-related disasters in my lifetime. It should never have happened. 72 people should sill be alive. It must never ever happen again.
Remembering those that died in the fire in June 2017. My thoughts and prayers are also with the survivors and all affected by the events of that night. I also thank and commend the bravery of those who assisted on that awful night, and in the years that have followed.
K Heywood, 4 September 2024
Further comment on the many Members of Parliament who left the Commons Chamber after today’s Prime Ministers Questions, immediately before the Prime Minister’s statement on the Grenfell Inquiry report:
People elect our politicians to make decisions on behalf of the electorate, and a large part of this is so that those lawmakers can keep the People safe. They chose to go for election. They also chose their actions today.
A packed House of Commons for Prime Ministers Questions half emptied for the statement on Grenfell immediately afterwards. The MPs who left chose to do so. They care not one iota for the safety of the people, only for themselves.
This shows how those lawmakers are totally inept and incapable of making decisions regarding the health and safety of the people they have been elected to protect.
They are a disgrace to Parliament and to the country. The Grenfell report is one of the most important reports to be written that affects so many people across the nation. Many MPs decided to ignore it today.
As Cicero said “Salus populi suprema lex esto” (the safety of the people shall be of the utmost importance). Many of the world’s lawmakers have this as their motto. It is about time our rulers in Parliament also followed this.
To those that left the Commons chamber at 12.30 today, I hope they think hard. Are they really fit to represent their constituents? To keep them safe?
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