Why does it take a disaster to change Health & Safety law?

The recent Phase 2 report from the Grenfell Inquiry has dominated Health & Safety news over the last couple of weeks. Casting blame on Government, private companies and public bodies, few have emerged unscathed from the Inquiry.

Building Regulations were one of the chief targets, labelled as “poorly worded”, “complex and fragmented” and “seriously defective”.

Between damning evidence presented by the report and the loopholes driven through the regulations by construction industry, it’s clear that the regulations need an overhaul. But as the report states, there were multiple opportunities over nearly 15 years to change the regulations.

As far back as 1999, Government was warned by the Environment and Transport Select Committee: “It should not take a serious fire in which people are killed before steps are taken to minimise the risks.”

And yet, the history of safety regulation shows that major fires and disasters have too often been a tipping point to shift attitudes and change the law.

The infamous 1666 Great Fire of London saw a prodigious fire spread between haphazardly-built houses for four whole days. It prompted new fire regulations that banned upper floors of buildings from jutting out over the floor below.

In 1929, the terrifying flammability of cellulose film in Paisley’s Glen Cinema fire forced a rewrite of regulations, requiring film projectors to be enclosed in fire-resistant enclosures. A 1956 mill fire in Keighley, Yorkshire resulted in new powers for fire brigades to inspect factories.

One of the worst disasters to shape UK law happened on the Isle of Man, at the Summerland resort. In 1973, poor design and highly flammable building materials led to a tragic fire that killed 50 people and gutted the 3.5 acre complex.

In the aftermath, revised building regulations incorporated fire resistance as a legal requirement for designers. This and the 28 fatalities caused by Flixborough’s chemical plant explosion gave urgency to 1974’s Health and Safety Act.

The Act, arguably one of the most influential of its kind, put far-ranging duties on employers to ensure health, safety and welfare at work.

Bradford City football ground’s disastrous fire in 1985 saw 56 deaths. A rewrite of fire safety regulations followed in 1987, giving local building control and fire authorities greater powers to enforce fire safety.

This cycle of disaster to reform doesn’t need to be the rule of thumb. 2005’s Fire Safety Order was compelled instead by a process of legislative review. By this point, UK law contained around 80 Acts of Parliament that specified fire safety. Consolidating and refining this legislation into a single, non-prescriptive law not only simplified the concept of fire safety management, but also radically expanded its scope.

There are a great many lessons to learn from the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, but perhaps one that doesn’t garner as many headlines is one of the simplest: regular and thorough reviews matter.

This is as true on a national scale as it is on an organisational scale. Don’t wait for HSE or Fire and Rescue Services, and certainly don’t wait until an accident happens to put a review system in place. Proactive management not only helps prevent accidents, it sends a clear message that your organisation is serious and consistent about Health & Safety.