The Grenfell Inquiry reveals the urgent need for a culture change in construction
In his November column for leading construction industry journal,Building, our Chairman, Sir James Wates CBE, reflects on the Grenfell Inquiry, and how contractors need to not only focus on improving quality but on bringing about a complete change in culture, where empathy with a building’s end users, better collaboration and communication are favoured over confrontation and cutting corners.
Sir James Wates CBE comments:
Dame Judith Hackitt has been a powerful voice for this culture change, and we really need to take her words to heart. In an interview about the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, she recently said: “We are all part of complex systems in our lives and in our work, and we must remove the silos of self-interest. Let’s stop making excuses and start making changes. You know you can, I know you can, and you know you should.
“One way to kick-start that culture change is to adopt a more collaborative mindset and get away from the confrontational old ways. We need to work on our skills in empathy looking at things from the other person’s perspective, including the end-user of the building.”
