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Jan TaranczukJan worked in local government for 33 years; 13 of which was as a Chief Officer. He has unique and extensive experience working with ...more
How can you learn the lessons from Grenfell if you haven’t even read up on previous tragedies?
Fire safety expert Jan Taranczuk urges the sector to read the coroner’s recommendations and documents relating to earlier fatal fires
Jan TaranczukJan worked in local government for 33 years; 13 of which was as a Chief Officer. He has unique and extensive experience working with ...more
Everyone agrees that we must learn the lessons from Grenfell.
But how can we learn from Grenfell if we still haven’t learnt from the fires at Lakanal House and Shirley Towers, and the Derby hoarder incident?
During a session at a recent fire safety event organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the London Fire Brigade, the vast majority attending said they hadn’t seen the Lakanal coroner’s recommendations.
The Lakanal House inquest produced 50 days of evidence, and four specific sets of recommendations to the London Fire Brigade, Southwark Council, the Fire Sector Federation and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
The links below may be useful, but it is worrying that Inside Housing covered some of these same issues back in 2013!
- Lakanal House coroner’s inquest
- Shirley Towers coroner’s letter
- Inside Housing’s feature on coroners’ ‘rule 43’ reports
It is common sense that we should do all we can to improve fire safety, but are the right people asking the right questions?
Board members must seek confirmation from their executive that the organisation’s fire safety plan takes account of the coroners’ recommendations from Lakanal, Shirley Towers, and Derby as well as the actions identified in the fire risk assessments that are undertaken.
Chief executives and directors must see evidence that the action plan is being managed and monitored on a regular basis.
As a profession we need to understand what has worked, and to find an effective way to share that information.
“It is time to share information in a way that will help landlords – large and small – that need it.”
The National Fire Chiefs Council should arrange for fire and rescue services to share information about fires (and their causes) that occur in residential properties and care homes.
Finally, there is a role here for the DCLG – or the CIH or the National Housing Federation – to host a website of good practice and innovation.
It is time to share information in a way that will help the landlords – large and small – that need it.
Jan Taranczuk, director, Jan Taranczuk Associates
Inside Housing’s Never Again campaign calls on the sector and the government to implement learning from the fatal Lakanal House fire. See full details below.
Never Again campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire
Never Again: campaign asks
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
LANDLORDS
- Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
- Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
GOVERNMENT
- Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
- Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.
