Product and Design Safety – What can we learn from the fires at Grenfell Towers UK and Sky City NZ?

Design Safety sarah, ,

I’m a big fan of safety by design and some of the most rewarding work that I have done during my safety career has been associated with HAZOP’s and design phase safety. With that in mind, I’ve been closely following the UK inquiry into the Grenfell Towers fire and NZ’s Sky City fire.

What happened at Grenfell Towers?

  •  Grenfell Towers was a 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington, West London.
  •  On the 14th June 2017, a fire broke out on the 4th floor thanks to a malfunctioning fridge – freezer.
  • The fire burned for over 60 hours.
  • 223 people escaped, 72 people died, more than 70 people were injured (including fire-fighters).
  • The Grenfell Tower Inquiry began on 14th September 2017 and is still ongoing.

For a more in-depth summary see:

What happened at SkyCity Convention Centre?

  •  On the  22nd October 2019 a blaze started on the roof of the centre and burned for days. 
  •  The blaze appears to have been started during the installation of bitumen roofing membrane and was fuelled ny a straw insulation product called Durra Panel. These panels are commonly used for soundproofing.
  • There were no sprinkler systems on the upper floors of the building as it was still in the construction phase.
  •  The firefighters had to abandon the roof and let it burn.

 For a more in-depth summary see:

Why has design safety come into the equation?

Grenfell Towers

  • The fire spread quickly via the building’s external cladding and insulation which created a chimney stack effect. Literally cooking the tenants trapped on the upper floors.
  • None of the key players in the refurbishment project are taking any responsibility for the fire. Instead, they are presenting carefully crafted legal waffle at the inquiry.

Architects: Studio E were the lead architects of the 2012-2016 refurbishment project claimed that:

  • “They did not have any knowledge that the products used on the tower were unsafe”; and,
  • The manufacturers mislead them into thinking the cladding was safe.”

Manufacturer: The building’s cladding contained material call Reynobond PE. There is email evidence that Arconic, the manufacturer of the product knew that panels performed worse in fire tests than their advertised performance rating from as early as 2011.

Insulation Provider: Celotex, who was the insulation provider also mislead both the architects and main contractor (Rydon) by claiming that their products were safe for use on high-rises, despite appearing to know of potential dangers.

SkyCity Convention Centre

Fire Engineers: Norman, Disney and Young (NDY) prepared the fire engineering report. This report focuses on fire suppression measures and ensuring that there is effective access for emergency services and egress for building occupants. Crucially, this is focused only on after the building has achieved its building code of compliance sign off.

There were 22 types of fires modelled in the report (including everything from a fire in the basement upwards); however, none of the fire modelling imagined a blaze starting on the roof during the construction phase.

The report also did not identify the fuel loading associated with the straw insulation panels during the construction phase, or the effect of conductive heat due to the use of blowtorches used by the membrane installers. Which is interesting because of one of the key learnings from the Ballantynes Fire in 1947 was a ‘total prohibition of the use of untreated softwood fibreboard’ because the lining of the Ballantynes building was highly flammable (pinex and wooden match lining) and this along with all the consumables in the department store meant there was a high fire load (lots of stuff that would easily burn).

Insulation: The Dura panels are “fire-resistant” according to Australian standards, which means they have a one-hour fire rating, and after that, they will burst into flames.

Auckland City Council says, during the construction phase, the fire emergency planning and response are covered by the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 not the Building Act 2004 and its associated regulations and codes.

FENZ Fire and Emergency could have offered advice on the building’s fire evacuation plan and firefighting facilities; however, it was not required to approve or review engineering reports.

What does this mean for your business?

Given that the investigations are still ongoing, I’m not even going to guess what the final outcomes will be for Grenfell or SkyCity. 

When it comes to design safety Worksafe’s Health and safety by design: an introduction  is a great place to start if you want to get your head around what needs to happen and get ahead of the game:

Designers:

It’s important to understand that under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 Section 16 a ‘design’ “includes drawings, design details, specifications and bills of quantities (including specification of articles or substances) relating to a structure, and calculations prepared for the purpose of a design.”

If you are involved in ‘designing’ something you need to be able to demonstrate:

  • You went through a robust, peer-reviewed design process
  • That your work meets the required engineering specifications/ tolerances
  • You considered if your work meets the required standards for fire resistance and it is fit for purpose.

Project Managers:

Focus on the S.T.I.C.K.Y things (Sh*t that could kill you or your team).

  • If you are scratching your head and in doubt, ask the design team questions and record that you raised issues.
  • If you are running a big site ask FENZ to review your site evac plan and discuss how you can minimise your fire risk during the construction phase.
  • Practice your fire evac procedure in real-time.
  • Vet your sub-contractors, induct them and audit them (Yes, this is stating the obvious).

Product Installers

Focus on the S.T.I.C.K.Y things (Sh*t that could kill you or your team).

  • Know the manufacturers of your product and ask questions if something isn’t lining up.
  • Own your zone, look at the broader areas that you are working in and if something doesn’t make sense ask the Project Manager about it.
  • Have your team tooled up and ready to respond to a fire. This may include fire extinguisher and hot work permit training.

As always, if you have any questions or anything else to add on the topic of product and design safety email sarah@employmenow.co.nz or call 0272 007 680.

Have a safe and productive week.

Best,

SB

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