The TUC has welcomed a government announcement this week that cladding on hospitals and schools will be tested for safety following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, but has expressed concern that those workplaces are tower blocks are being ignored.

The union body says no guidance has been given to other employers who may have staff working in high-rise buildings. 

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of people across the UK work in high-rise buildings, many of which could have cladding and insulation similar to that used in Grenfell Tower. Those workers need urgent reassurances about their safety, and if there is any risk to them, there must be immediate action.” She added: “The government should give advice to employers on how to ensure that their buildings are safe. That includes information about what types of cladding and insulation material may be dangerous, how to get samples tested and what remedial action they should take if their cladding fails safety tests.” She concluded: “The government needs to ensure that all high-rise buildings are made safe.” 

The New York Times has said the Grenfell Tower disaster was the consequence of ‘mindless deregulation’. The editorial urges US president Donald Trump to rethink his decision to adopt a deregulation programme modelled on that introduced by the Conservatives and implicated in the Grenfell Tower disaster. “Supporters of Mr Trump’s mechanistic two-for-one deregulation pretend that public health and safety would take care of themselves as business is freed of what they say are undue burdens. But this approach is not about safety or business burdens, it’s about increasing profits by reducing compliance costs,” the paper notes. “After the Grenfell Tower fire, the dangers of reflexive rejections of regulation, like Mr Trump’s executive order, are clearer.