On the 14th June 2017, 72 people lost their lives in a tragedy that would lead to a public inquiry, the results of which are not anticipated to be published until 2024.

For the first time I passed Grenfell Tower in person recently. Never before have I seen the tower in real life, only images and video footage that the world saw.

It stopped the conversation in it's tracks and I instantly put my hand on my heart. My hairs stood on end.
I have read so much on Grenfell Tower over the years and kept abreast of updates and any news being published. I thought I saw the effect of what had happened. It seems I had only ever seen the impact from a distance.

Show me the Bodies. How we let Grenfell Happen by Peter Apps.

I read this book recently. I think this gave me an insight into what the families and friends of those involved in the tragedy went through and the impact of inaction from those in power had. The book was a roller coaster chapter by chapter.
The feelings I had reading this book were intensified when I saw the tower in real life. I could never begin to imagine what people went through that night.

Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters (Perspectives).

Another book I have read, and continue to pick up. Learning from catastrophe, unfortunately, seems to take some time, it took too long and resulted in 72 lives lost.

Changes

Changes are being seen in the industry as a result of the Building a Safer Future Report.
Those responsible for manufacturing, supplying and installing fire safety measures are being subject to requirements to be third party certified under a recognised scheme.

Competency requirements have recently been published in the JCI whitepaper.
The Fire Sector Federation has released a benchmark document for fire risk assessors.

The Final Repot

It has been reported we cannot expect to see the final report for the inquiry until 2024, 7 years since the fire. Expected to have thousands of pages I expect the report will still be read by so many across the globe.

Hopefully learning from this tragedy making the changes needed to make the world that bit safer.
You can read the first report here.

What Now?

I will continue to work with the construction industry to implement these changes. The industry is being forced to change from manufacturing to installation to maintenance.

If you are in construction I urge you to be part of this change. To save lives.