Concern at asbestos in social housing
The construction union UCATT is claiming uncovered huge deficiencies in the rules covering the management of asbestos in people’s homes.
The report As Safe as Houses? mainly examines how asbestos is managed and removed in social housing but also uncovers major flaws in legislation concerning properties containing asbestos in the private sector.
The report by Dr Linda Waldman and Heather Williams reveals that there are major differences in how individual local authorities and registered social landlords (RSLs) notify tenants about whether properties contain asbestos and the likely risk of exposure.
The report recommends that all social landlords should have a duty to manage asbestos in the internal part of properties; currently there is only a duty to manage asbestos in communal areas such as stairwells.
Social landlords should also be required by law to maintain an asbestos register for all properties.
It adds that a register should contain information whether:
- a property has been surveyed
- asbestos has been found in a property or similar properties
- the asbestos has been removed or damaged
- asbestos has been professionally removed and official confirmation of removal
UCATT is calling for a mandatory asbestos survey for all houses, which is kept up to date.
The union says Britain has the highest rate of mesothelioma death in the world and death rates are not expected to peak for another decade.
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Readers' comments (2)
chanmore | 3-Jun-2009 2:55 pm
Asbestos was in my parents home.
It was finally removed but the company who did the job left my elderly parents in the home while they did the work in white suits and masks with breathing equipment.
My parents lived there with asbestos for 40years and my father died of cancer and my brother had skin cancer.
Three have breathing and lung problems.
There are many homes with asbestos, this should have been removed years ago given the risks.
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Gerry Tierney | 28-Jun-2009 6:31 am
I work for the Department of Housing in Western Australia. We provide social housing for eligible Australians in a State that is 5 times bigger than the entire United Kingdom. We have managed to conduct Building Condition Inspections of all our properties constructed prior to 1990, some 15,000 dwellings, some of which are located in isolated and remote country. Following the inspections, we have managed to create an asbestos register and conduct a risk assessment for every single Social Housing dwelling in the State that are likely to contain asbestos building products. We have developed an Asbestos Management Plan that will see most asbestos building products in our dwellings replaced with non asbestos alternatives in the near future. If any of you readers would like to know more about our Asbestos Management Plan please visit our web site. www.housing.wa.gov.au.
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