A watchdog is to endorsing new guidance on how housing providers manage asbestos, following concerns that residents are increasingly taking more social landlords to court.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is supporting consultancy Savills to write new guidance for housing associations and stock-owning councils to help them understand their legal responsibilities on dealing with the potentially lethal material.
The HSE told Inside Housing some social landlords do not have suitable asbestos procedures in place, partly because the body has no specific guidance for housing providers.
Julian Ransom, who is drawing up the guidance at Savills, said he was seeing an increasing number of residents bringing damages claims against housing associations, although he did not provide specific figures.
Mr Ransom added that compliance reviews for social landlords were uncovering a lack of internal guidance, strategy and auditing on asbestos. The new guidance will include specific direction for social landlords on how to tackle asbestos, such as how and in what circumstances they should inform residents about its presence.
Asbestos is not necessarily harmful if left untouched and was used in buildings until 1990s. But if disturbed and its fibres are breathed in, some forms of the material can be deadly.
According to the HSE, in 2012 there were 2,535 deaths due to mesothelima (a cancer of the lung lining) caused by asbestos exposure. Six in 10 flats built between 1965 and 1984 contain asbestos, the HSE said.
Anchor was fined £10,000 by the SHE in February last year in February last year after exposing residents to asbestos when it replaced a lift at a sheltered housing scheme in November 2012. North Devon Homes was fined £1,000 in January this year after workers were exposed to asbestos when carrying out boiler renovation works in September 2012. Both landlords say they have changed their procedures since the incidents.
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