In 2017, a fire broke out in the Grenfell Tower block of flats in West London. Seventy-two people lost their lives in the disaster.
In the foreword of the review’s interim report, Building a Safer Future, Dame Judith wrote: “The mindset of doing things as cheaply as possible and passing on responsibility for problems and shortcomings to others must stop.”
One of Dame Judith’s key findings was that UK building regulations were “not fit for purpose”. She recommended action to improve the lack of basic fire safety awareness in the construction and buildings maintenance workforce.
CITB’s new fire safety eCourse, which will be launched on Monday December 5th, is a response to that recommendation.
Following Grenfell, working groups formed by the Inquiry were set up to look at different focus areas.
The Inquiry’s Working Group 2 (WG2) was tasked with assessing the competence of people who install fire safety systems. WG2 concluded that a fast, simple fire safety training solution was needed. CITB was asked to address this skills gap and create a low cost, accessible course.
The eCourse has case studies to support learning and includes interviews with firefighters who attended major incidents.
Due to the high stakes nature of the topic, industry requested an invigilated exam for the course. The exam, which can be taken online or at a Pearson VUE test centre, costs just £20.
The course’s certificate of achievement will be valid for five years and added to the Construction Training Register.
How to enrol on the course:
The eCourse will be available on the CITB eCourses website from Monday December 5. Simply follow the steps to register and you can complete the course at your own pace. Once you’ve finished the course you can book your exam. Please note this course is not Grant eligible.
The Grenfell Tower public inquiry ended on November 11, 2022. Its report is expected in late 2023 / early 2024.
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