The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast - Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 2: Building Blocks

Download Grenfell: Building a Disaster - Ep 2: Building Blocks

How a fire in Scotland in 1999 foretold the fire at Grenfell Tower.

In 1999, a dropped cigarette started a tower block fire in a small town on the west coast of Scotland. The building, which had been recently clad in flammable materials, is said to have caught fire like matchwood. This was one of the first signs that combustible materials were being permitted in the building sector in the UK. These risks were even raised with the New Labour government – so why didn’t they act?

How did the UK’s regulations allow for such materials to be used on high rise buildings? And how did government deregulation in the 1980s shape attitudes to health and safety?

Presenter: Kate Lamble
Producer: Josephine Casserly
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Audio engineers: James Beard and Gareth Jones
Story consultant: Simon Maybin
Editor: Penny Murphy

Published on Wednesday, 4th September 2024.

Available Podcasts from The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast

Subscribe to The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast webpage.