Stuart Macdonald
Social landlords should be ashamed of the publication of figures this week which show that almost 1,200 of their staff were assaulted in the last three years.
Abuse stats are shameful
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The real figure is likely to be even higher, as statistics for housing associations were not gathered. There is no excuse for the fact that at least eight housing staff are either physically or verbally assaulted each working week during the course of their jobs. Social landlords should value their staff more highly.
Putting to one side the obvious points around staff recruitment and retention, no social landlord will be ignorant to its responsibilities under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act. This means that all employers must have in place risk assessment and recording procedures for all staff.
While there is no suggestion that social landlords are not meeting their technical requirement here, assaults on this scale would indicate that policies in this area need to be revisited.
There is a wealth of good practice available from organisations such as the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the Chartered Institute of Housing to help social landlords ensure they are doing the best they can to protect their staff.
Indeed, it could be argued that the fact that Stockport Council recorded the most incidents could indicate that it has simply been more successful than other landlords in encouraging its staff to report abuse. Even if this is the case, knowledge of the size of the problem is only the first step in tackling it.
Currently - unlike in the health care sector - there is no formal means of checking whether or not a social landlord is doing the best it can in assessing and then preventing the risks its staff face. Perhaps there could be a role here for the inspectors of the Audit Commission and the Tenant Services Authority? After all, in 12 months both are likely to be responsible for inspecting and regulating the entire social housing sector.
If the number of incidents of abuse grow - and the chances are that they will as unemployment and rent arrears rise - perhaps landlords should act to implement a common standard for the protection of staff to which they all sign up?
In the light of these figures it is the least they can do.
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Readers' comments (7)
Junior | 27/03/2009 5:23 pm
Excuse me have you ever meet some of these Housing Officers what about the abusive some of these Housing Officers give and intimated Tenant's well I suggest you come down to the East End of London and heard some of the story's of better still look under Policy Forum on the website under Housing Association Failure please
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John Gray | 29/03/2009 6:43 pm
Eve
What an ignorant and pointless comment. So what you are suggesting is that Housing staff “deserve” being assaulted, threatened or abused? The vast overwhelming majority of staff are hard working and dedicated to serving residents. Staff are most at risk of harm when they are trying to protect residents from violence or harassment.
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Junior | 30/03/2009 9:46 pm
Sorry you feel that way John Gray but like you I'm entitled to my option.
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Fingers | 31/03/2009 3:41 pm
Eva as you correctly point out you are fully entitled to your opinion, but as officers have to enforce the Tenancy Agreement they are subject to verbal and physical abuse that is a fact we tenants must face.
My ALMO has a no tollerance policy towards abuse, and that is quite correct. After all it could be you or your relative that is the next to be abused if staff do not face up to unaccepable behavour.
Staff who are asked to work alone deserve all tenants support on this issue.
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kass | 01/04/2009 4:42 pm
I am not sure what everybody is talking about, apart from some statistics which seem to be: 1) non representative and unreliable; 2) do not specify what assault or attack means - apart that a physical assault means to be touched somehow physically, and verbally, to be hit with the sound of a voice (does it included a barking dog's voice?); 2) do not report what prompted the attack - were these attacks unmotivated? provoked? self-defence? imaginary, attacked by another member of the staff, etc?... Giving these stats this way (as presented on this website) gives only a clear message, that TENANTS ATTACK MINDLESSLY HOUSING STAFF. Now, this a a huge lie. In many years as a tenants I have not witnessed a single attack on a staff. On the other hand I have witnessed intimidation and harassment from staff. Maybe someone should also collect figures of tenants who are harassed and intimidated by their social landlords and contractors. and I can tell you the figures will be at least twenty times (conservative estimate) higher than any of figures relating to housing staff... Now the chief executives put their own staff in danger by rpoviding services and then not even collecting proper statistics of these events... One starts to suspect that not many of these attacks, maybe not even a single is from a tenant who has never been threatend, intimidated or given good services... One has also to suppose that if statistics were properly collected it would - as a side effect - reveal a deluge of tenants' unsatisfaction. And would the Chief Executives will ever want to explose that?... There you are - let's not blame the statisticians!
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kass | 02/04/2009 10:18 am
kass | Wed, 1 Apr 2009 16:42 GMT
correction to the above where I typed "... chief executives put their own staff in danger by rpoviding services... " I meant to type the following "... chief executives put their own staff in danger by NOT providing services or acceptable standards of services..."
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Maureen | 10/12/2009 9:28 pm
I am a Housing Officer here is the list of abuse I have had this week:-
Monday - visit a man who has been urinating outside, smashing up flat, smashed car belonging to a chinese neighbour. Police warned he has a violent history. "Your a f____ liar b__ch, f___ off before I blow your f___ head off".
- Phone call - person wanted a house where an elderley tenant had died, told property would be advertised on Property Pool (waiting list) and to bid, screamed response "if I dont f__ g get it, your car is getting it".
- Phone call - person screaming "tell that woman in flat 1 she cant have a dog, coz I am getting a grizzley bear" - yes he has mental health and telephones everyday!.
Tuesday - tenant found dead in house 9:10am, waiting for police & ambulance, a neighbour (tenant) approaches drunk tries to enter house, when stopped, I was called all the f,b & c's.
returned to office person in reception, non tenant, being abusive, threatening all staff, eventually realised he had come into the wrong H A office. As he left one of my tenants came in, high on drugs, excrement all over his trousers, got abusive when asked to leave and come back.
Phone call - known dangerous person threatening me and contractors, wont allow access to carry out gas safety check.
Wednesday - Female ten becomes abusive when advised of procedure for disabled adaptions to contact the City Council and request an OT to complete report.
Male ten, pending eviction for ASB, neighbours afraid of him, 125 incidents police have attended in 8 months, walks into reception waving legal documents tells receptionist that he is going to take me down.
Thursday - Abusive letter arrives. Phone call from ten, reports neighbour has gone mad, is screaming, throwing items through windows and door. I Arrive before police, tenant swearing, making threats and throwing items at me. Police arrest him and find both bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen full of canabis plants.
Will you be getting up tomorrow to go to work wondering just how many times you will be spoken to like a piece of dirt, sworn at, receive threats to both you and your family - No unless your a Housing Officer. Remember we are doing our job, working within guidelines, budgets, policies and procedures we are not the ones who make them. I am 8 stone, 5'2" and I am expected to sort out people causing ASB, who have criminal histories longer than your arm, drug addicts, sex offenders, alcoholics, and people with mental health, including the dam right rude, nasty and unreasonable. Fortunately they count for only 50 or so of my properties, my other 500 tenants, are law abiding, decent people.
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