All social landlords have this as an issue, and it's a difficult one. Generally we advise staff that they report back to their line manager if they have concerns and they may withdraw if the problem is considered serious enough. Usually in those cases the housing team write to the customer and advise them to clean the place up eyc, or we involve EH. Trades' ops all have different levels of what's acceptable or not, but we undertake 60k repairs a year and the number that we have an issue with is fairly low. Risk assessments all cover good hygiene, and include the use of PPE as well as the potential for needlesticks which also comes up from time to time. Fleas will be the latest thing with heating going back on, but that's another thread and has been discussed on here many times.

This is a case where you really need to engage with the troops. You can actually do a lot to assess the common problems that they come across but to do so, you need to tap into their experience. Take this in easy stages - remember, risk has a component of frequency so to start with don't get hung up on the bizarre, focus on the ordinary, the run of the mill situations that your people encounter and work them through to sensible conclusions. You will then be in a position to put in place sensible and justifiable precautions. You will also be in a position to work out, with them, sensible fall-backs for the oddities that they may occasionally come across. A little while down the line, your review of the assessments then needs to pick up on experience with the bizarre oddities to see whether the bounds of the routine assessments can be extended. No doubt others will in due course comment on "dynamic risk assessment", fair enough but don't go there without getting the common problems well covered first. Just as a thought, consider "lone working procedures" as well as PPE etc. Maybe even tap into non-safety information for visit planning if the guys are liable to go into difficult situations (geographical, social, business etc.). Forewarned is forearmed! Jim

I would also look at some low level risk assessment training, so your engineers/operatives can dynamically risk assess. Just because a residence has poor hygiene it doesn't mean it's unsafe. Teach your guys to assess each dwelling on it's merits and withdraw if necessary.

with all due respect I feel that proactive risk assessment can be carried out that will cover at least 95% and more of what is to be done, what people may come accross and is foreseeable - with only a very small amount of dynamic RA needed thereafter; as we do By asking the question a risk assessment has been started Simple rules can be made but its very difficult for the front line staff [as usual] as if the heating is off and the house is full of dog waste how does a tradesman leave when small children are present and the house is freezing - Office based senior management need to be much more proactive with their tenants instead of leaving things to people lower down as the tenants know the law and you cannot throw out a child [under other law] in cold weather where technicially you can throw out the people who cause the mess e.g. the parents