In 2017, 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire, the greatest loss of life in a residential fire since the war. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt’s review found that the current system for ensuring safety in high-rise buildings was not fit for purpose.

The highly critical report made 53 recommendations, including the creation of a new Building Safety Regulator (BSR). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was charged by the government with creating the regulator.  

HSE’s insight team spent three years ensuring that audience understanding was central in the development of the new government body. The team influenced all areas of the new regulator, helping BSR meet milestones and objectives, ultimately contributing to safer buildings and communities. 

BSR needed to deliver an incredibly ambitious programme of work to transform how high-rise buildings are constructed and managed, drive up standards across construction and keep residents safe. 

There were many challenges to making the case for, and applying market research approaches, across the regulator: 

• Colleagues were under pressure to meet legislative deadlines  
• This work involved audiences that the team had no previous experience of supporting or regulating  
• BSR was evolving: three years ago, just 10 people were working to create BSR, now over 400 are delivering live services. 

The insight team delivered a research programme that moved as BSR developed, from audience understanding, to product and service development, to evaluating live services.  

Central to the approach was working in close partnership with client teams to ensure applicable findings. The insight team proactively connected across functions and organisational boundaries to ensure impact, including working with digital, operations, communications, organisational design, policy and strategy, and influencing wider industry actors.  

Working with research partner Verian, the team maximised the impact of over 40 projects, and the resulting insight-based strategy, communications and service design has led to: 

• 97% of high-rise buildings registering on time to provide critical building safety data  

• 6,000 building owners being better prepared to keep 1.5 million residents living in high-rise buildings safe 
• An increase from 44% to 63% of high-rise building planning applications meeting fire safety standards for the first time. 

When BSR launched in April 2024, audience insight was embedded in its design and decision-making processes. 

The judges said: “If you want to see proof of how research changes lives, look no further. This entry showed how the team had influenced all areas of the business with its new Building Safety Regulator. More communities are now safer as a result.” 

Matt Jonas, assistant director, insight and service design, Health and Safety Executive, said: “The team are so excited to have won this award. We’re really pleased that the fantastic research and insight being delivered in the public sector, to solve some of the big issues faced by our country, was recognised by the MRS in this category and others. I understand that we are the first public sector team to have won this award which makes us extremely proud.”