Opening Statement

[ THE AFTERMATH of the Grenfell Tower disaster is finally finding its way onto the statute books, after six years of investigations and reports. The Fire Safety Act is already being implemented, while the Building Safety Act is beginning to be brought into effect. The Building Safety Regulator, an employee of the HSE, is currently looking for experts from the industry to make up its Industry Competence Committee.

Meanwhile, the whole issue of building safety is being kyboshed by Brexit. The complex issue of standards in construction products, together with the current regime of health and safety at work, is built on the comprehensive network of rules and regulations adopted by the EU as a body. The government’s efforts to dismantle that network as it applies to the UK and replace it with a UK-based series of standards is being stalled for reasons most people would have foreseen. The deadline for CE marking has now been extended again, to June 2025.

• Where the HSE is looking more to the past is in a campaign to remind young people that asbestos is still with us as a threat to life. Because the substance has been banned since 1999, that does not mean it has ceased to exist. It makes sobering reading to learn that 5,000 people will die this year from asbestosrelated diseases. Anyone who has lost a close friend to mesothelioma will hope the younger generation take heed of the warning.

• If, as Shaw declared, Britain and the USA are two countries divided by a common language, in the case of England and Scotland we are united by a shared respect for what is, in some cases, a different legal system. And increasingly since the establishment of a Scottish Government an element of statute law has been added to the established system there. The legislature in Scotland is keen to work constructively with the legal system, as evidenced by the recent address to the Law Society of Scotland’s annual dinner.

• The UK and the US can work in tandem in some areas – and that has recently included co-operating in bringing to light the workings of a group of cyber criminals responsible, it has been established, for a plague of offences including ransomware attacks on health systems and local authorities, among other organisations. Seven Russians have been ‘sanctioned’ by both jurisdictions for nefarious activities aimed at blackmailing those organisations.

The joint actions by transatlantic authorities adds to the clutch of financial misdoings uncovered by expert Fiona Hotston Moore.

• Language divisions between the UK and USA – even between England and Scotland – pale into insignificance when compared to the multitude of languages used by the many nationalities seeking sanctuary in these isles. It goes a long way to explain why the two main organisations representing linguists have reacted with fury to a leaked report that the government is considering sending asylumseekers ‘questionnaires’ to support their claims.

One of the more bizarre aspects of the reported plan is the encouragement to use Google Translate to fill in their forms. As contributor Hayley Cowle points out, AI has a host of failings when it comes to accurate translation. Myself unquestionable you’ll correspond [I’m sure you’ll agree].

• One area where a recognised imbalance among experts is being addressed is that of the dearth of women experts. The ERE Pledge is making an effort to address that imbalance and we are proud to promote its efforts. Take the pledge at www.expertwitnesspledge.com/take-the-pledge q

Ian Wild

Ian Wild, Director of Business Development Your Expert Witness