It is now one year since 72 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire: a shocking event that prompted a series of searching questions to be asked about our society and in particular our relationship to fire safety in buildings. In May of this year, Dame Judith Hackitt published an independent review entitled “Building a Safer Future” which looked at Building Regulation and Fire Safety systems focusing on high rise residential buildings.
The report was extremely hard hitting and looked at design and construction through to procurement and supply. In this webinar, hosted by Barbour EHS and The Healthy Work Company, Dame Judith will describe her findings and answer questions about the review.
Dame Judith Hackitt is a chemical engineer and has more than two decades of first-hand experience of working in chemical industry running major hazard manufacturing facilities. She then joined the Chemical Industries Association where she became Director General and championed the industry wide Responsible Care programme. She also served as a member of the then Health and Safety Commission from 2002-2005 before moving to Brussels to work for the European Chemical Industries body – CEFIC.
In 2007 Dame Judith became Chair of HSE and over her 9 years in the role became a strong public advocate for a common sense proportionate approach to health and safety, setting up the high profile Myth Busters group to challenge jobsworths and those who hide behind health and safety as a convenient excuse. She stepped down from HSE in 2016 and is now Chair of EEF, the Manufacturers Organisation and of SEMTA, the Engineering and Manufacturing Skills body. She is also Senior Independent Director on the Board of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Dame Judith is a fellow and past President of IChemE and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She was made a Dame in 2016 for her services to health and safety and engineering and for being a role model of young women engineers.
In July 2017 Dame Judith was asked by the Government to conduct an independent review of building regulations and fire safety in high rise buildings in the wake of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower and the report was published in May this year.
In association with Barbour EHS.
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Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
