#358 Experts in Risk

Residents of tall buildings can face significant risks in the event of fire or structural failure. At Grenfell Tower in the UK, a fire in a resident’s kitchen spread rapidly around the building, due to failures in the testing and installation of cladding materials, and leading to widespread loss of life. The inquiry into the fire revealed how overlooked risks can line up, causing disaster. The 2022 Building Safety Act established that dutyholders—owners and developers—of buildings like this should employ competent professionals. The challenge these dutyholders now face is to identify those professionals. The Engineering Council in the UK has established a means to do this, through the Higher Risk Buildings Register. In this episode, Chris O’Regan, chair of the joint ICE/IStructE committee that developed the register, explains the skills and expertise needed from engineers working on these structures. This goes beyond technical expertise: Chris highlights the need for empathy with residents, and a demonstrated ability to collaborate with professionals from other disciplines. Guest Chris O’Regan, chair, ICE/IStructE Higher Risk Buildings Register Committee; associate director, Mason Navarro Pledge The post Experts in Risk first appeared on Engineering Matters .

You can listen to #358 Experts in Risk online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#358 Experts in Risk is an episode from Engineering Matters by Reby Media.

This episode is 25:44 long.

This episode was published on Jan 15, 2026.

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