Benita Mehra | |
|---|---|
 Benita Mehra on 26 June 2018 | |
| Alma mater | City, University of London Henley Business School |
| Organization | Women's Engineering Society |
Benita Mehra FIET, FWES, FIHEEM is a British engineer based in London. She was President of the Women's Engineering Society from 2015 to 2018.
Mehra studied Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the City University London before completing an MSc in Construction Management at Heriot-Watt University. [1] Upon graduation she joined British Airports Authority (BAA) the airports operator and with their support attained chartered status, having been seconded from BAA into a manufacturing company. [2]
In 2005, Mehra achieved an MBA in Henley Business School, allowing her to manage large groups of engineers. [3]
In 2015 she became a Fellow of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology in 2016. [4]
The British prime minister Boris Johnson appointed Mehra to the Grenfell Tower inquiry, having undertaken a (non-transparent) due diligence of Benita Mehra.
Given that Benita Mehra had run an organisation (the Women's Engineering Society) that had received a £71,000 grant from the Arconic Foundation - the philanthropic arm of the very manufacturer who created the cladding that played such a pivotal role in the Grenfell fire [5] - her appointment and willingness to take up the position sparked controversy with many in the Grenfell community [6] while Mehta insisted on there being no conflict of interest. Unite the Union assistant general secretary for legal services Howard Beckett, said "“Benita Mehra has a clear conflict of interest and she should play no role in the inquiry". He further said,“Benita Mehra’s claim that there is no conflict of interest is simply not plausible". [7] Only after sustained outcry by the Grenfell community, a handful of major media outlets, and Grenfell United, did Benita Mehra resign from the Grenfell Tower inquiry.
Prime Minister accepts resignation of Grenfell Tower Inquiry panel member. The Prime Minister said: "I can confirm that Benita Mehra wrote to me yesterday to offer her resignation from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry panel and I have accepted. I would like to thank Benita for her commitment and I am very grateful for her sensitivity to the work of the Inquiry." [8]
In her letter she had hoped to draw on her experience and knowledge of the construction industry, of community engagement and of governance within housing management contribute to the vital work of the Inquiry in discovering how and why the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower happened.
However, it is apparent that her former role as President of the Women's Engineering Society (WES), which in 2017 accepted a charitable donation from the Arconic Charitable Foundation to support the mentoring of women engineers and apprentices, has caused serious concerns to a number of the bereaved, survivors and resident Core Participants. Within her letter to the Prime Minister she made it quite clear she had not had any contact with either the Arconic Charitable Foundation or Arconic and her involvement in the donation was to review the initial proposal.
As President of WES, her role was unpaid and the grant from the Arconic Charitable Foundation was ring-fenced to fund the mentoring scheme alone, and for these reasons, she did not link any aspect of her former role as President to the panel member for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
She did not feel to cause any further distress to those who had already suffered such unimaginable losses and trauma, nor to create any distractions from the vital work of the public inquiry and felt no option but to tender her resignation as a panel member of the Independent Inquiry into Grenfell Tower. [9]
Many in the Grenfell community, as well as MP's including Labour Deputy Leader and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott, saw her appointment and her acceptance of the position as unacceptable. [10]
In 2016, Mehra became the President of the Women's Engineering Society. [11] Under her guidance, National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) became an international celebration. [12] She has campaigned for women to be more readily welcomed back into the engineering workforce after time taken out for maternity leave, and encouraging small-to-medium enterprises to explore job-sharing for mid career workers. [13]
Mehra works to inspire the next generation, working with teachers and girls to highlight careers in engineering. [14] She was a judge of the annual Top 50 Women in Engineering campaign run by the Women's Engineering Society in partnership with The Telegraph newspaper. [15] She received an Honorary Doctorate for Science for her diversity work from Chichester University in 2017. [16] [17] [18] and as a diversity champion was awarded an honorary degree [19]
Ronan Point was a 22-storey tower block in Canning Town in Newham, East London, that partly collapsed on 16 May 1968, only two months after it had opened. A gas explosion blew out some load-bearing walls, causing the collapse of one entire corner of the building; four people died and 17 were injured. The spectacular nature of the failure led to a loss of public confidence in high-rise residential buildings, and major changes in British building regulations resulted.
A sandwich panel is any structure made of three layers: a low-density core, and a thin skin-layer bonded to each side. Sandwich panels are used in applications where a combination of high structural rigidity and low weight is required.
The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, predating the Society of Women Engineers by around 30 years.
Danielle Amara "Dany" Cotton, is a British retired firefighter. From 2017–2019, she served as the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and was the first woman to hold this position. She had previously been the Director of Safety and Assurance at the London Fire Brigade.
Kingspan Group plc is a building materials company based in Ireland, trading in over 80 countries with more than 210 factories employing over 22,000 people. The company operates with six divisions; Insulated Panels, Insulation, Light & Air, Water & Energy, and, Data & Flooring, Roof & Waterproofing.
Dame Judith Elizabeth Hackitt,, FIChemE, FCGI is a British engineer and civil servant. A former Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive, she is currently Chair of manufacturing trade body EEF.
Sir Martin James Moore-Bick, PC is a retired judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Doreen Delceita Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, OBE is a British Jamaican campaigner and the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack in South East London in 1993. She promoted reforms of the police service and founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. She was appointed to the Order of the British Empire for services to community relations in 2003, and was created a Life Peer in 2013.
Exova Group plc was a laboratory-based testing company, operating primarily within the Testing segment of the Testing Inspection and Certification (“TIC”) sector. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Element Materials Technology in June 2017.
Emma Dent Coad is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington from 2017 to 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, she has been a member of Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council since 2006. She resigned her Labour membership on 27 April 2023, but remains on the local council as an independent.
On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. Seventy-two people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escaping. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha oil-platform disaster and the worst UK residential fire since World War II.
Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to the south of the building; the road itself was named after Field Marshal Lord Grenfell, a senior British Army officer. Most of the tower was destroyed in a severe fire on 14 June 2017.
Rydon is a British facilities management and property maintenance company which was founded in 1978. Its head office is in Dartford, Kent, and it has two maintenance offices in London. It had a turnover of around £51.9 million and employed an average of 423 people in the year to September 2022.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the day following the fire.
Anna Agnieszka Stec is Professor in Fire Chemistry and Toxicology at the University of Central Lancashire. Her interests include the assessment of toxic and irritant hazards in fires, and the factors affecting fire gas toxicity.
On 14 June 2017, the Grenfell Tower fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST; it caused 72 deaths, including those of two victims who later died in hospital. More than 70 others were injured and 223 people missing. It was the deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom since the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster and the worst UK residential fire since the Second World War.
Arconic Corporation is an American industrial company specializing in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing. Its products are used worldwide in aerospace, automotive, packaging, oil and gas, building and construction, defense, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, and industrial applications.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the day following the fire.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the day following the fire.
Criticism of the response to the Grenfell Tower fire primarily consisted of condemnation of issues with the emergency response and fire safety regulation practices in the UK at the time. Broader political criticism was also directed at British society, including condemnation of the response by governmental bodies and UK politicians, social divisions, deregulation issues, and poor transparency overall.