Fire engineer Kabbe Njie wins 2025 Paul Dockerill Award

Njie has dedicated his career to protecting life, restoring trust and strengthening the systems that shape homes and communities. In the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster, he was determined to make culture part of the safety system and designed Building Safety Management and Method, a framework that helps organisations to transform values into structure and safety into behaviour.

Further, Njie has since developed a Resident Culture Code Toolkit that was co-designed in conjunction with residents, building safety managers, housing officers and fire professionals. It will provide visuals, checklists, reflective questions and a simple model to help residents and safety leaders speak the same language about safety.

Vulnerabilities increase risk

Njie commented: “Growing up in East and North London, I saw first-hand how vulnerabilities increase fire risk and have sadly felt the impact personally, having lost a cousin to fire.”

He continued: “Cultural safety is about reforming how we think and act, not just what rules we follow. Grenfell showed that, without openness, trust and accountability, even technically compliant systems can fail.”  

Further, Njie noted: “Cultural safety also means creating an environment wherein people can speak up without fear, and where professional curiosity is encouraged to challenge assumptions. As residents often tell me, they want to feel listened to as much as protected. The lesson is clear: without psychological safety and curiosity, compliance will always fall short.”

Built environment visionary

The 53-year-old entered his project for the Paul Dockerill Award, a £10,000 fund to honour the legacy of a built environment sector visionary. Dockerill held an immense passion for building safety, skills development and improving fire safety in the UK up until his death in November 2022.  

Antonia Lanyiova, accreditation manager at the CIOB, revealed Kabbe’s project is a deserving recipient of the fund, adding: “Kabbe's project embodies Paul Dockerill’s legacy by placing cultural safety at the heart of building safety. The CIOB is delighted to award Kabbe a significant fund towards his work. We look forward to seeing the continued development of the Resident Culture Code Toolkit, ensuring safer and more trusted homes for everyone.”

In conclusion, Lanyiova stated: “We’re already looking forward to applications for next year’s award opening in February 2026. I’m encouraging anyone with a proposal which drives innovation and makes a difference to the safety of our buildings to step forward and apply.”

Njie is the second recipient of the Paul Dockerill Award after Dr Scott McGibbon was awarded up to £10,000 in 2024 for his project to advance awareness about the dangers of silica dust.

*For more information visit www.ciob.me/pauldockerill