With all the problems you guys have been having with these American made fire hazards over the years, why don't you just ban the things from being allowed into your country?

Given the difference between American electricity and the UK's electricity I'm certain they were not made on this side of the pond.

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Today marks the third anniversary of the Grenfell tower fire. It was three years ago today when our world changed.
We lost 72 loved ones. They remain forever in our hearts. We remember them today and always - and everything we do on our journey is in their memory.
We want to send love on this special day, to everyone who stands with us, grieves with us and supports us.
This year is especially difficult because we cannot gather in person. But even apart we can still come together to remember our loved ones.
So please join us at 6pm, on our Youtube Channel, where we will screen a very special memorial film. The film will start with 72 bells that will chime from churches across the country in memory of 72 lives.

Copied from an e-mail received today.
Video at 17:00 UTC today.

How the hell was this allowed to happen?
New £100m NHS intensive care unit closed after failing fire safety checks

A newly built £100m intensive care unit at a major NHS hospital has been closed after it failed fire safety checks, leading to seriously ill patients being moved out.

King’s College hospital in south London has had to shut the critical care unit after its own engineers and the London fire brigade identified problems that could potentially make it unsafe.

The trust has declared a critical incident over the closure, prompted by fears that the panels on the outside of the new unit would make it easier for a fire to spread.

The critical care unit only opened in April and is the biggest and most advanced facility of its kind in the NHS. It has played a key part in helping King’s manage seriously ill Covid-19 patients.

How the hell was this allowed to happen?

No standards. No plan check. No check materials ordered are what is delivered. No inspections to assure plans are followed. Bribe.
All of the above.

Or can't be bothered to read the full site document pack - I spotted (or was it heard?) that the site document pack for Grenfell was all but unopened and the site management team said they didn't tend to open them "because it was just too big and always contained the same stuff". These packs contain all the relevant standards, updates to those standards, working practices to be employed, prohibited materials lists and so on. Yes they are big, but are essential to the job, so the site management team should be fully aware of what's in them rather than using them to keep the office door open/shut.

Given the dates of the two jobs I can't help thinking were key players in the Grenfell site management team later employed on the hospital team....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Wonder if we'll see something similar over Grenfell?

But Autostrade, which had been privatised and sold to the Italian fashion giant Benetton, failed to repair the pylon that subsequently collapsed. Another company, Spea, was in charge of inspecting Italy's infrastructure. It too was owned by Benetton.
The accusation is that conflict of interest mixed with serial neglect led to an avoidable disaster. Autostrade and Spea deny culpability. Autostrade will now be renationalised and forced to pay compensation.
The preliminary investigation into the cause of the collapse, focusing on 71 civil servants, employees of Autostrade and Spea, should finish by the end of the year. That will form the basis of a trial, with charges announced including multiple manslaughter.

New bridge ready to open

2 clichés spring to mind.
"Too many cooks spoil the broth"
"The buck stops here"
CYA time

All the time our current Government were last out of office (1997 - 2010), they were bellyaching on about how regulations get in the way of good business.

No, they don't - good business barely notices they are there. The regulations are designed - and intended - to get in the way of bad business.

This is what happens when you scrap the regulations - good business goes bad. The buck stops with the people who do the scrapping.

Really?...

Really 'confused'??...


Grenfell Fire: Cladding firm 'confused' by safety rules
wrote:

... The guidance for meeting the government's building regulations stated that materials used on towers above 18m needed to have a Class 0 (zero) rating - described as the highest national product performance.

The guidance said that a product would get a Class 0 rating if it was "composed throughout of materials of limited combustibility". In other words, made entirely of something which would not burn easily.

The cladding used on Grenfell Tower, Reynobond PE, had a Class 0 rating for its aluminium surface, but not throughout, because its core was made from flammable plastic. Therefore it was not of "limited combustibility", according to that section of the guidance...

My personal humble uneducated reading of that is: That reads clearly enough!

Reading further, the story (deadly bad pun) gets even worse for the fire hazard for how the cladding was installed!!...


All an overriding game of profits before all other 'details'?...

All in our only one deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

All an overriding game of profits before all other 'details'?...

Rules without inspectors. Sounds like Boeing and the FAA.

Another told YTN News of "exterior material", possibly insulation, attached to the outside of the building that caused the fire to spread quickly.

Oh dear
Fortunately, as of now, no known fatalities.

Are they learning or is it just Panic Stations?

Brentford tower block residents evacuated over safety fears

Hundreds of residents at a housing complex in west London are having to move out while fire safety and structural problems are investigated.
People living in the Paragon complex in Brentford are being evacuated after faulty cavity barriers, which prevent flames spreading, were found.
Every occupant of the 1,059 high-rise homes will be moved out this week.
Housing association Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) said it was "working to uncover the full extent of the issues".

Are they learning or is it just Panic Stations?

I'd say a bit of both.

Human genius has its limits, but stupidity des not

Hmm...
Records burned
...makes one wonder.

He told the inquiry that the responses he received from colleagues made it clear that Celotex was determined to launch the insulation - known as Rs5000 - onto the market regardless of how it could pass fire tests.
Mr Roper accepted that the discussion within the company was whether Celotex complied with the building regulations or bent the rules to make more money.

One reason for Grenfell - Dishonesty
When this is all over, I'll lay odds no one goes to prison.

Sorry lawyers, it was predicted here 1st.

But at the start of this phase of the inquiry, victims' lawyers predicted it would be a "merry-go-round of blame".
That is exactly what happened.

4 possible reasons for the fire
Sorry BBC, 4 actual reasons!

Philip Heath, who works for Kingspan, forwarded a customer's fire test query and wrote that they were "getting me confused with someone who gives a dam".
He added in the forwarded email: "I'm trying to think of a way out of this one, imagine a fire running up this tower !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
A Kingspan employee said it was "getting tricky what to write" without "putting ourselves in a legal situation".
In an internal email, Mr Heath responded using strong language: "Wintech can go f... themselves, and if they are not careful we'll sue the a*se of them".

Nice managerial culture in the world today.
What else to come?

E-mail received today.
Arconic still not telling the truth about Grenfell!
Thank you so much all your support in our ongoing struggle for truth and justice for Grenfell. The last few months have been difficult as the Public Inquiry has uncovered more about why Grenfell came to be covered in such dangerous materials - but the companies involved are still trying to hide from the truth.

Witnesses for Arconic, the company that made the cladding, are hiding in France. This week we succeeded in getting the French Government to speak out and tell them they have no excuses not to attend the Inquiry - ITV London captured the moment. But it’s not been enough! Even though they have run out of excuses they are still refusing to come!

We need to keep the pressure up and keep spreading the word so these companies know there is nowhere to hide.
There are 3 things you can do today to help:
1.Sign & share our petition calling on Arconic witnesses to attend the Inquiry.
2.Watch & share our video explaining why Arconic must attend.
3.Retweet our call to Newsweek: This week Newsweek named Arconic as one of America's Most Responsible Companies 2021! Let’s make sure the editor knows exactly what Arconic are responsible for.

Heading into the holiday season is alway a tough time for families missing loved ones - and we know this Christmas is going to be hard for so many people around the country.
Knowing we have support keeps us strong and we will return in the new year determined as ever to see truth and justice.
Thank you for standing with us,
Grenfell United

1: Petition
2: Video Note Arconic is approx. 7 min in.
3: Sorry, don't do Twitter.

Edit:
Absolutely disgraceful

Are some buildings owners profiteering on (the lack of) fire safety?


Dangerous cladding: 'Fire patrols at our flats cost us £500,000'


The prices listed for what should only ever have been a temporary fire watch look to be profiteering ridiculous!

Indeed, those prices would pay for a rebuild or a comprehensive fire alarm system. With added sprinklers also??


One to be chased up for who is profiting (and profiteering) from this...

All in our deadly greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Indeed, those prices would pay for a rebuild or a comprehensive fire alarm system. With added sprinklers also??

Where are the building codes and building inspectors to make sure the codes are followed?

Alarms and sprinklers are mandatory elsewhere.

If one cares to go back a good few posts (and probably back into v.1 of this thread) you will see that, at the time, the code did not require sprinklers, and that the inspectors were very hands-off (if not invisible)..........

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?