Grenfell inquiry: Ex-employee describes ‘dishonest’ acts at firm that made flammable insulation used on tower

The ex-Celotex assistant product manager told the inquiry the firm had been dishonest when testing its Rs5000 insulation product.

By Aisha Zahid, news reporter

Monday 16 November 2020 20:05, UK

Grenfell Tower

A former employee of the company that produced flammable insulation used on Grenfell Tower says he complied with “completely unethical” acts, the inquiry into the June 2017 disaster has heard.

Jonathan Roper, the ex-assistant product manager at Celotex, told proceedings the firm had been “dishonest” by “overengineering” a cladding fire safety test to enable its Rs5000 insulation product to pass.

After an initial test failure in January 2014, a second system passed in May 2014 – this was used to incorrectly market the combustible rigid foam boards as safe for use on high-rise buildings, the inquiry heard.

Celotex added a 6mm fire-resisting magnesium oxide board to a cladding test rig consisting of 12mm fibre cement panels for the second test, the hearing was told.

The inquiry heard 8mm fibre cement panels were added to “conceal” the presence of the magnesium oxide, making the whole system almost flush – but for the 2mm difference.

Mr Roper agreed with the inquiry’s chief lawyer Richard Millett QC that using “a thinner layer was to make it less noticeable there was something else behind it”, which would help “see off any prospect of anyone asking questions”, about how it had been made up.

Mr Roper answered “yes it did”, when Mr Millett had asked him the question: “Did that not strike you at the time as dishonest?”

Mr Roper also said: “I went along with a lot of actions at Celotex that, looking back on reflection, were completely unethical and that I probably didn’t potentially consider the impact of at the time.

“I was 22 or 23, first job, I thought this was standard practice albeit it did sit very uncomfortably with me.”

People at the Grenfell Memorial Community Mosaic next to the tower block in London on the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire which claimed 72 lives on June 14 2017. — Image: The site of the Grenfell Tower fire which claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017

Mr Roper added that his superiors ordered the mention of magnesium oxide to be removed from any marketing, which he agreed was “misleading and intended to mislead”.

Mr Millett also asked: “Did you realise at the time that if this was how the test was to be described to the market it would be a fraud on the market?”

Mr Roper responded by saying: “Yes I did. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with it. I felt incredibly uncomfortable with what I was asked to do.”

He added that he could not voice his concerns to anyone else in the firm at the time.

Mr Roper also told the inquiry that the motivation for getting the Rs5000 product to market was to compete with a rival firm.

Celotex has released a statement, saying: “In the course of investigations carried out by Celotex after the Grenfell Tower fire, certain issues emerged concerning the testing, certification and marketing of Celotex’s products which were previously unknown to Celotex’s current management.”

It added: “Once established, they were promptly and publicly announced by notices on Celotex’s website and reported to the relevant testing and certification bodies, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Trading Standards, the Metropolitan Police and the Inquiry.

“These matters involved unacceptable conduct on the part of a number of employees. They should not have happened and Celotex has taken concerted steps to ensure that no such issues reoccur.

“Celotex is committed to cooperating fully with the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and related investigations, continuing to support the UK Government’s ongoing response to the tragedy.”

The company, part of the French multinational Saint-Gobain group, maintains that it promoted the use of Rs5000 on buildings higher than 18 metres only on a “rainscreen cladding system with the specific components”, used when it passed the fire safety test.

In its opening statement for module two of the inquiry, the firm said: “In the course of investigations carried out by Celotex after the Grenfell Tower fire, certain issues emerged concerning the testing, certification and marketing of Celotex’s products.

“These matters involved unacceptable conduct on the part of a number of employees.”

Module two of the inquiry will scrutinise the production, testing and sale of materials used in the tower’s refurbishment which saw 72 people killed in the 14 June 2017 fire.

https://news.sky.com/story/grenfell-inquiry-ex-employee-describes-dishonest-acts-at-firm-that-made-flammable-insulation-used-on-tower-12134017

November 11, 2020

Kukdo Outage

Guodu Chemical Resin Plant exploded, and the resin will rise again?

 Echemi 2020-11-04

Recently, an explosion accident occurred at the Guodu Chemical Resin Plant. Two people were injured in the accident. The fire caused by the explosion was brought under control within one hour. According to insiders, Guodu Resin has three sets of devices, all of which are isolated. The explosion accident this time was probably due to the dry weather and the explosion caused by dust. The specific cause is under further investigation by the relevant departments.

Public information shows that Guodu Chemical Co., Ltd. was jointly invested and established by Korea Guodu Chemical Co., Ltd. and Japan’s Solectron Chemical Co., Ltd. Korea Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd. was established in 1972 and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of epoxy resins and curing agents. At present, in addition to the four production bases in Korea, Guodu Chemical Co., Ltd. has also invested in the establishment of Guodu Chemical (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, China, which mainly produces epoxy resin and polyether polyol products.

According to industry insiders, the dust explosion caused by bisphenol A is the main cause of accidents among epoxy resin manufacturers. At present, epoxy resin companies generally have two ways to avoid such accidents. One is to connect to the underground through pipelines to drain static electricity; The other is to use steam to reduce static electricity during the feeding process. In addition, the work clothes of the operating workers also have the effect of anti-static, and multiple measures can be taken to effectively prevent accidents.

A number of resin companies closed, and prices continued to rise

After the explosion, resin companies are bound to cause a battle without gunpowder and smoke. Recently, many resin companies have increased their prices.

Generally speaking, the reasons for price hikes are not only upstream price hikes and the surge in downstream demand, but also the reduction in market volume caused by the reduction in supply in the industry and corporate overhauls will also drive anxiety and increase downstream purchases.

Due to the high level of the domestic epoxy resin market, the negotiated price of solid epoxy resin is around 16,800 yuan/ton (delivered upon acceptance). In addition, more than a dozen resin companies, including Anhui Zhicheng Industrial, Shexian Hongda Chemical Industry, Qingtian Materials, New Sino-French Polymer Materials, Anhui Yongchang New Materials, Huangshan Zhengjie New Materials, and Jiangsu Ruipu Resin, have announced price increases recently. The notice kicked off the price increase in the domestic resin industry. Judging from the price increase notices issued by various companies, indoor polyester resin products rose by 300-600 yuan/ton, and outdoor polyester resin rose by 500-800 yuan/ton. Leading company Allnex Resins rose twice in a row, with a cumulative increase of 700 yuan/ton. Among them, a large factory increased the price every morning and afternoon due to too many orders, and the price was close to 23,000 yuan/ton (in barrels), putting a high price on the last working day of October.

In addition, the sudden safety accident at Guodu Resin Plant will inevitably cause tension and anxiety in local enterprises, and even more tension in the resin industry. In addition to bringing tension to the resin industry, it may also cause large-scale safety inspections in Kunshan and even the entire Jiangsu area. It will also cause certain problems to the normal production of local epoxy resin companies and other raw material and coating companies. influences.

Judging from the current market situation, since August this year, the price of chemical products has continued to increase. Even the polyester resin industry that has not seen price increases for many years has begun to be unable to restrain the increase, and even quotations have been invalidated and orders have been destroyed. This is really rare in the chemical industry. Based on this speculation, the prices of chemical products and raw materials will continue to rise in the last two months of the year, and the hot trend may continue until next year.

https://www.echemi.com/cms/126938.html