Taking a healthy interest

Liverpool Council knows that residents’ health and the quality of their housing are intrinsically linked. It also recognises that landlords have the potential to prevent illness, injury and premature death among residents, which is why it is training housing association employees to be able to identify and assess potential health hazards.

In January, Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing jointly launched the House Proud campaign which makes the case for housing to policy makers in the run-up to the general election. The case does not need to be made to Liverpool Council, however, as it has already embarked on its Liverpool Healthy Homes programme.

The programme involves Liverpool Council officers sharing with public and private landlords their knowledge of the government’s housing health and safety rating system, a risk assessment procedure for residential properties.

Dave Williams, environmental health practitioner on the council’s health improvement team, says the HHSRS, introduced in 2006, can help housing associations and the council achieve shared goals, like improving health and addressing vulnerability. It can also be applied when deciding how to prioritise repairs and plan investment programmes.

‘The system looks at health outcomes and the effect of any [housing] defect on the occupants, rather than physical property conditions [in isolation],’ says Mr Williams.

‘We’re keen to familiarise everybody with it, private landlords and social landlords alike, so they understand what we’re doing and why. If hazards exist in a property, owners need to know what they are so they can assess the risks and do something about it.’

When working with housing associations, including Liverpool Housing Trust and Liverpool Mutual Housing, Liverpool Council helps staff identify the 29 hazards highlighted by the government in the HHSRS. The training mainly focuses on the five hazards identified by the council as most prevalent in the city - excess cold, damp and mould, falling on stairs, falling on level surfaces, and flames and hot surfaces. At mock inspections of vacant properties, housing association staff consider the hazards in four categories (see box: Health hazards).

Excess cold is emerging as one of Britain’s most common causes of ill health and premature death. Damp and mould is another common hazard - although it is often found in bathrooms, its negative impact on residents’ health is greatest when it is present in living areas causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems. Hazards that can lead to falls on stairs are increasingly significant as the UK’s population ages - the key things for frontline housing staff to look out for are the steepness of staircases and absence of handrails.

Defects identified during mock inspections are discussed, and the group assesses the likelihood that they will cause harm. The training shows how environmental health practitioners use the HHSRS to assign average hazard scores to properties. Faults indentified within a property are translated into hazards and the extent of the potential harm is weighted to provide a hazard score. If a local authority or a social landlord discovers a category one hazard - one likely to cause significant harm - it has a duty to take action. If the hazard falls into the category two band, the hazard may not pose a significant risk to occupants’ health, but the council may suggest taking action.

‘For the consideration of each hazard, a vulnerable group is identified,’ says Stewart Petrie, Healthy Homes environmental health practitioner.
‘For electrocution it would be children. For falls it would be the elderly. While the use of hazard scores appears complex, the concept of considering the likelihood of suffering harm and severity of harm outcome is fairly simple.’

Ian Watson, Healthy Homes programme leader, says: ‘The HHSRS brought together years and years of research and puts beyond any doubt the link between housing defects and health.

‘One training event we provided for a housing association was themed around reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease, so the presentation focused on the housing hazards linked to this, for example cold properties without heating or good levels of insulation.’

Housing associations own 27 per cent of Liverpool’s housing stock. In order to continue its work with the social housing sector, the council has allocated individual Healthy Homes environmental health practitioners to particular landlords.

‘This creates a speedy procedure for securing improvements. This reduces burdens on social landlord and council staff and helps maintain good working relationships, which ultimately benefit tenants,’ says Mr Watson. ‘It’s through these relationships that training needs are identified and expertise shared.’

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