You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Grenfell Fraud.
Fire test for Grenfell foam cladding panels was rigged, admits ex-employee
Executives who sold combustible insulation for use on Grenfell Tower perpetrated a “fraud on the market” by rigging a fire test and making “misleading” claims about it, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.
Celotex, a subsidiary of the French construction materials company Saint Gobain, behaved in a “completely unethical” way, admitted Jonathan Roper, a former assistant product manager. Roper had worked on two fire tests of the foam panels and subsequent sales plans as the company tried to grab a slice of a £10m-a-year insulation foam market.
The foam, known as RS5000, fuelled the fire and released toxic gases and smoke that helped kill 72 people. It was withdrawn from the market nine days after the fire on 14 June 2017.
In evidence to the inquiry’s examination of the manufacture, testing and sale of the largely plastic materials, which turned the 24-storey council block into an inferno, Roper said the firm had been “dishonest” by “over-engineering” a cladding fire safety test to achieve a pass.
A first test in February 2014 failed in 26 minutes with flames engulfing the rig. But after changing some of the materials used around the insulation, including adding concealed fire retardant panels, a second test three months late passed and was used to market the foam boards as safe for high-rise buildings.
Roper was asked to produce slides for the sales team that would not include mention of the earlier failed test or the fact that the magnesium oxide board had been added in the second test. The slide was “downright misleading” and “intended to mislead”, he agreed under cross-examination by Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry.
“Did you realise at the time that … this would be a fraud on the market?” asked Millett.
“Yes, I did,” replied Roper. “I felt incredibly uncomfortable with it. I recall going home that evening, I was living with my parents at the time, and mentioning it to them. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with what I was being asked to do.”
Asked if he could have gone to the senior management with his concerns, he replied that they were all in the meeting about the marketing strategy.
“I went along with a lot of actions at Celotex that, looking back on reflection, were completely unethical and that I probably didn’t potentially consider the impact of at the time,” he said. “I was 22 or 23, first job, I thought this was standard practice albeit it did sit very uncomfortably with me.”
Celotex has told the inquiry that “the combustible nature of [its insulation] was, or should have been, known to construction professionals”.
It has accepted that the circumstances around the testing, certification and marketing of the materials involved “unacceptable conduct” by some employees and said it has “taken concerted steps to ensure that no such issues reoccur.”
The group has also said it promoted RS5000’s use on buildings that are taller than 18 metres only on a “rainscreen cladding system with the specific components”, used when it passed the fire safety test.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/fire-test-for-grenfell-foam-cladding-panels-was-rigged-admits-ex-employee/ar-BB1b3Xfy?ocid=msedgntp
Executives who sold combustible insulation for use on Grenfell Tower perpetrated a “fraud on the market” by rigging a fire test and making “misleading” claims about it, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.
Celotex, a subsidiary of the French construction materials company Saint Gobain, behaved in a “completely unethical” way, admitted Jonathan Roper, a former assistant product manager. Roper had worked on two fire tests of the foam panels and subsequent sales plans as the company tried to grab a slice of a £10m-a-year insulation foam market.
The foam, known as RS5000, fuelled the fire and released toxic gases and smoke that helped kill 72 people. It was withdrawn from the market nine days after the fire on 14 June 2017.
In evidence to the inquiry’s examination of the manufacture, testing and sale of the largely plastic materials, which turned the 24-storey council block into an inferno, Roper said the firm had been “dishonest” by “over-engineering” a cladding fire safety test to achieve a pass.
A first test in February 2014 failed in 26 minutes with flames engulfing the rig. But after changing some of the materials used around the insulation, including adding concealed fire retardant panels, a second test three months late passed and was used to market the foam boards as safe for high-rise buildings.
Roper was asked to produce slides for the sales team that would not include mention of the earlier failed test or the fact that the magnesium oxide board had been added in the second test. The slide was “downright misleading” and “intended to mislead”, he agreed under cross-examination by Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry.
“Did you realise at the time that … this would be a fraud on the market?” asked Millett.
“Yes, I did,” replied Roper. “I felt incredibly uncomfortable with it. I recall going home that evening, I was living with my parents at the time, and mentioning it to them. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with what I was being asked to do.”
Asked if he could have gone to the senior management with his concerns, he replied that they were all in the meeting about the marketing strategy.
“I went along with a lot of actions at Celotex that, looking back on reflection, were completely unethical and that I probably didn’t potentially consider the impact of at the time,” he said. “I was 22 or 23, first job, I thought this was standard practice albeit it did sit very uncomfortably with me.”
Celotex has told the inquiry that “the combustible nature of [its insulation] was, or should have been, known to construction professionals”.
It has accepted that the circumstances around the testing, certification and marketing of the materials involved “unacceptable conduct” by some employees and said it has “taken concerted steps to ensure that no such issues reoccur.”
The group has also said it promoted RS5000’s use on buildings that are taller than 18 metres only on a “rainscreen cladding system with the specific components”, used when it passed the fire safety test.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/fire-test-for-grenfell-foam-cladding-panels-was-rigged-admits-ex-employee/ar-BB1b3Xfy?ocid=msedgntp
Comments
Gene Murtagh, pictured left with his wife Orla, is the Chief Executive of Kingspan, who sold the cladding which was used in Grenfell Tower, cashed in shares worth £22 million in the company. His father Eugene, who founded the firm, sold shares worth £76 million. Mr Murtagh purchased a seafront property in Dublin in 2018 for an estimated £6.8 million, pictured right. Last week the inquiry heard how one of Kingspan's insulation products, Kooltherm K15, was fitted on Grenfell despite not being suitable for high-rise buildings.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9019763/Directors-Grenfell-Tower-supplier-cash-shares-worth-123-million.html
A firm which manufactured flammable insulation used on Grenfell Tower worked with a public relations agency to lobby MPs in an attempt to convince them their product was safe in the weeks after the blaze that killed 72 people, an inquiry has heard.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/grenfell-inquiry-kingspan-insulation-firm-hired-pr-agency-to-lobby-mps-in-the-weeks-after-fire-to-convince-them-their-product-was-safe/ar-BB1bMu33?ocid=msedgntp
There should be!