Chapter 36: Fire safety management at the TMO

Health and safety policies

¶36.1 The TMO maintained a policy which described the way in which it sought to comply with its obligations under health and safety legislation. We saw various versions of the policy but the witnesses were asked principally about the versions dated July 2010³⁵²³⁵² {TMO10031078}. and February 2016.³⁵³³⁵³ {TMO10024402}.

¶36.2 The TMO's senior staff were familiar with the policy. Teresa Brown was familiar with the general principles in the policy, but had no reason to refer to the details.³⁵⁴³⁵⁴ Brown {Day126/9:14-22}. Barbara Matthews helped to review the policy in February 2016³⁵⁵³⁵⁵ Matthews {Day147/140:5-16}. and Janice Wray also contributed to it.³⁵⁶³⁵⁶ Wray {Day142/152:14-16}. The policy provided that Robert Black was ultimately responsible for health and safety at the TMO.³⁵⁷³⁵⁷ Matthews {Day147/141:3-5}; {TMO10024402} paragraph 1.2.

¶36.3 According to the policy, the TMO was required to make sure that staff with key roles in the management of health and safety were competent and adequately trained.³⁵⁸³⁵⁸ {TMO10024402/1} paragraph 1.4. However, Barbara Matthews told us that there was no document that described standards of competence or the training required for those members of staff.³⁵⁹³⁵⁹ Matthews {Day147/142:11-25}.

The TMO's fire safety strategies

¶36.4 On 18 January 2013, Janice Wray sent Carl Stokes³⁶⁰³⁶⁰ {CST00001187}. a document entitled "Fire Safety Policy",³⁶¹³⁶¹ {CST00002046}. which she had drafted to address one of the failings identified by Salvus in a report dated September 2009.³⁶²³⁶² Wray {Day140/141:20-25}. It was intended to replace the fire safety policy approved by Robert Black in 2009.³⁶³³⁶³ Wray {Day140/142:2-11}. When drafting the document Janice Wray had consulted her colleagues, Cyril Morris and Adrian Bowman, and the operations division of the TMO. She may also have consulted the LFB with the intention of adopting its standards.³⁶⁴³⁶⁴ Wray {Day140/142:25}-{Day140/143:13}. On 1 February 2013, Carl Stokes provided some comments.³⁶⁵³⁶⁵ {CST00030180}.

¶36.5 The draft policy was discussed at a meeting of the TMO's Assets & Regeneration and Repairs, Health & Safety Group on 18 April 2013.³⁶⁶³⁶⁶ Item 7.1 "Fire Safety Policy" {TMO10002648}. It was discussed again at a meeting of the Operational Health and Safety Committee on 15 November 2013. The intention was for it to be circulated by Janice Wray in draft for comments before sending it to the LFB by mid-December.³⁶⁷³⁶⁷ TMO Operational Health & Safety Minutes {TMO10004726/6}.

¶36.6 The version of the document produced in November 2013³⁶⁸³⁶⁸ {TMO00830598}. (entitled "TMO Fire Safety Strategy") was given to the LFB at the bi-monthly meeting in December 2013. Janice Wray said that the LFB had not commented on it.³⁶⁹³⁶⁹ Wray {Day140/151:2-3}. The draft was discussed again at the meeting of the Operational Health and Safety Committee on 17 January 2014, when it was noted that it had already been given to the LFB and that the final version could be approved at the next committee meeting.³⁷⁰³⁷⁰ TMO Operational Health & Safety Meeting {TMO00840384}. In fact, there is no record of the document's having been approved at the next or any subsequent Operational Health and Safety Committee meeting. Despite that, it was in its final form, as far as Janice Wray was concerned.³⁷¹³⁷¹ Wray {Day140/155:17-19}.

¶36.7 The minutes of the meeting on 17 January 2014 recorded that Janice Wray and Michael Lyons (the Health and Safety manager of Repairs Direct) were to meet to discuss any changes to the strategy. In the event, Michael Lyons, who had been sent a copy of the draft, sent back a different document described as a fire safety policy dated January 2014.³⁷²³⁷² {TMO10040770/1}. Janice Wray said that that document had not been adopted, however, as it did not reflect the TMO's working practices.³⁷³³⁷³ Wray {Day140/151:25}-{Day140/152:12}.

¶36.8 There were various versions of that document, the earliest being dated January 2014³⁷⁴³⁷⁴ See Fire Safety Policy, Issue 01, January 2014 {TMO10040770}. and the latest May 2014.³⁷⁵³⁷⁵ {TMO00856458}. The former, apparently written solely by Michael Lyons, contemplated the appointment of a fire safety manager,³⁷⁶³⁷⁶ {TMO10040770/6}. who would be responsible for the strategic management of fire precautions, including the formulation and revision of the TMO's fire safety plan and oversight of the process for obtaining fire risk assessments.³⁷⁷³⁷⁷ {TMO10040770/6}. When she received that document from Michael Lyons Janice Wray noted the different structure for managing fire safety, including the introduction of a fire safety manager. She sent a copy of the policy to Anthony Parkes, her then line manager, who confirmed that the TMO did not intend to implement the arrangements described in the draft.³⁷⁸³⁷⁸ Wray {Day140/154:13}-{Day140/155:5}.

¶36.9 The draft dated May 2014, jointly written by Janice Wray and (apparently) Michael Lyons, did not contain any reference to a fire safety manager and made it clear that responsibility for fire safety policy lay with the Health & Safety Manager. In any event, it appears that neither the January 2014 nor May 2014 draft was taken any further.³⁷⁹³⁷⁹ Wray {Day140/157:13-15}.

¶36.10 Another version of a fire safety policy was identified by the RBKC auditor, Alpesh Patel, who carried out an audit of the TMO's health and safety arrangements in March 2016. Janice Wray had provided him with examples of the latest internal policies and procedures, which included a Fire Safety Policy and Strategy.³⁸⁰³⁸⁰ Patel {RBK00058245/11-12} pages 11-12, paragraph 32; Exhibit AP2/38 - TMO fire safety policy and strategy {RBK00058236}. That document was presented in the same way as the January and May 2014 drafts and was in substance a revised version of the fire safety strategy dated November 2013.³⁸¹³⁸¹ Wray {Day140/162:9-14}. It was not adopted by the TMO's health and safety committee.³⁸²³⁸² Wray {Day140/162:19}-{Day140/163:2}. Janice Wray did not know why that document had been given to the auditor.³⁸³³⁸³ Wray {Day140/163:6-22}. The current fire safety strategy remained the one that had been approved in November 2013.

¶36.11 A review of the 2013 strategy began in April 2016.³⁸⁴³⁸⁴ Wray {Day140/164:4-13}. Janice Wray presented a paper³⁸⁵³⁸⁵ {TMO10024351}. at a meeting of the TMO Health and Safety Committee that took place on 12 April 2016.³⁸⁶³⁸⁶ {TMO10012811}. The document was entitled "Review of Fire Safety Strategy" and set out initial points to consider as part of the review. The review is likely to have been prompted by the Adair Tower fire, which had occurred on 31 October 2015.³⁸⁷³⁸⁷ Wray {Day140/167:24}-{Day140/168:10}.

¶36.12 The process of reviewing the strategy continued well into 2017. The TMO Health and Safety Committee considered a draft dated June 2017³⁸⁸³⁸⁸ {TMO10017036}. at its meeting on 13 June 2017, the day before the fire. Janice Wray said that the revision had taken so long to complete because the TMO wanted to review many aspects of the draft and make many minor changes and because there were many aspects on which she needed to obtain responses from others.³⁸⁹³⁸⁹ Wray {Day140/171:7-20}. That may be so, but on any view, the delay speaks to an absence of proper expedition to make sure that a policy, which touched on the health and safety of residents, was completed expeditiously and kept up to date to reflect any changes in circumstances or regulatory requirements.