Body counts often the leadup to society’s valuable ‘red tape’
Red tape, regulation, and bureaucracy are absolutely wonderful.
That sentence will likely make some politicians’ blood boil, the politicians whose solution for all society ills is to slash all these things. Especially if it means less spending and lower taxes.
But it’s also what comes to mind following the catastrophic destruction last week when a highrise in London, England went up in flames.
At least 79 people are dead, while those who managed to escape Grenfell Tower lost everything. Most did not have much to begin with, as the building was one of few social housing developments for the poor and vulnerable in that area of London. What is equally horrific is the negligence and callous shortcuts taken prior to the fire.
The most prominent one is the cladding slapped on the side of Grenfell during a “retrofit” that took place from May 2006 to October 2009.
Fire experts have since stepped forward to say that this cladding most likely contributed to the astounding speed at which the fire spread through the building.
But this isn’t just a one-off. The UK government has since confirmed that 11 other tower blocks have similar combustible cladding.
This is despite the danger of this cladding being well known — it’s banned from use on high-rise buildings in Canada, Germany and the U.S.
Not going with flame-retardant cladding saved the retrofit project at Grenfell a mere £5,000.
The cladding is just one of the long-standing worries that Grenfell tenants had. Such as the building not being retrofitted to include sprinkler systems or other measures that would have helped to minimize a fire spreading.
It’s often not a fire that kills people. It’s the inhalation of smoke and toxic gases released by the fire. Many of the 79 were probably dead before the flames even reached them.
Prof. Richard Hull, Professor of Chemistry and Fire Science at the University of Central Lancashire told The UK’s Telegraph in one interview that “Unlike ships, trains or aircraft, where fire toxicity is regulated because it is accepted that escape may not be possible, the UK and most of Europe have no regulations on the toxicity of fire smoke from construction products, even though escape from a high-rise building may be equally impossible.”
This could be regulated by the government. Alongside the cladding, sprinkler systems and more.
But heaven forbid that should happen. It would mean higher costs for taxpayers and the private sector. It would mean having to hire more bureaucrats to help monitor and keep things in check.
Yes, it’s absolutely understandable that individuals can get frustrated with red tape, bureaucracy and regulations. But the whole “cut it” is shallow jingoism. It lacks nuance. It’s often just a thinly-veiled excuse to privatize, increase privatesector profit, and lower the tax bill.
Fire codes, building codes, food handling, water treatment, waste disposal — the list goes on of regulations and bureaucracy that have come about because of body counts. Grenfell is a reminder of this. (Peggy Revell is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions.)