Good afternoon all, I am hoping that some of you could give me some advice on the following. I have had a call today from a member of our team who has been doing some survey work of occupied social housing estate. He gave me a call to tell me that he had left the previous house he had surveyed covered in fleas. I should note that allot of these houses are not in a very clean condition, to say the very least. He asked me what he should do. I must admit that this is a new one on me so other than telling him and his colleague to go home have a shower and change their clothing, I was at a loss of what to suggest. Can anyone tell me if there is anything else that I should have advised him to do? Also going forward, this is not a hazard that we have been aware of or that has been risk assessed. I am conscious that this will not be an isolated occurrence due to the reason stated in the second paragraph. I am aware that the hazard needs to be assessed, the relevant control measures put in place and a safe system of work created that all of our other employees can work to. Does any one have any suggestions on what I can put in place to prevent this from happening again? I not even sure of the adverse health effects of fleas, other than incessant itching. I know that they bite but is there anything else that is detrimental to human health that I need to consider? Many thanks in advance.

The use of disposable coveralls and an effective knock-down spray before and after their removal should suffice

Yes you should be providing a SSOW for visiting peoples homes notwithstanding the fleas issue, you have many more hazards from vicious dogs to characters unknown to your staff visiting the residents (and everything from needles to rubbish in between). A little trick i learned in my Housing days was dropping white paper on the floor. If there is an infestation fleas will quickly appear on the paper. Dont stay, make an excuse and leave. Use a good quality knock down spray before getting into a vehicle and waiting a few minutes. A small single first aid kit was supplied with wipes, cleansers etc for cleaning up. Residents who were infested were directed to pest control while vacant properties were treated (these properties are where you can wear the paper overalls). Vacany infestations are a whole other issue...... By all means contact me if you want any further info. I hope after 17 years in social housing i can at least give you some tips. Flea bites are a problem if they get infected and long trousers dont always help - the little blighters get right up your trouser legs! I found tights worked wonders but the guys wont wear them for some reason..... :)

Try contacting your local Environmental Health Officer. They will probably be able to offer you some practical advice. Chris

Thank you all for your replies. Very much appreciated. F Brown, if I could take you up on your offer of sharing your information it would be of great benefit to me. I presume with knockdown sprays I would also need to complete take into consideration the COSHH elements and also any medical conditions our employees may have that may be affected by the use of sprays such as these. I like the white paper on the floor tip and I am sure that I can train our guys to make an excuse to leave, although do we not have a duty of care to let the tenants know of the infestation as well as the client. They may be unaware! Wearing tights, I look forward to suggesting that one! Coveralls are not a problem because we are an asbestos consultancy so we issue all of our operatives with a plentiful supply of disposable coveralls and booties as part of our standard kit. Thanks again for all of your advice and tips, I don't know what I would do without you all!