Credit: iStock – IPG Gutenberg UK Ltd
An On the wire story
Gill Kernick has been appointed the first independent chair of the Building Safety Regulator’s Residents’ Panel, in a move the regulator said is designed to keep the views of people living in higher-risk buildings central to its work.
The panel is a statutory committee created under the Building Safety Act 2022 and is intended to ensure that residents’ experiences shape regulation, policy and decision-making in the post-Grenfell safety regime.
Kernick brings both professional and personal experience to the role. She lived in Grenfell Tower between 2011 and 2014 and has since become a prominent voice on safety culture and systemic change, authoring Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters.
She is also director of strategy and culture realisation at Arup, where she leads a global programme on safety culture.
In comments released with the appointment, Kernick said residents offer a distinctive understanding of building safety because of their everyday experience, and that combining that insight with technical expertise can help produce safer homes. She said the panel gives residents a chance to inform, challenge and improve the building safety regime.
Charlie Pugsley, the BSR’s acting chief executive, said residents are central to the regulatory system and that their experiences are essential if it is to remain effective, proportionate and focused on the people it is meant to protect.
The regulator had previously sought an independent chair to lead quarterly discussions, create an inclusive forum and help residents express their concerns with clarity and confidence.
Inspired by headline at PBC Today [1]
• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
