Matt Hardy is Golden Lane Housing’s Head of Health, Safety and Compliance.
If you have a Health and Safety concern in your home contact Matt on 0300 003 7007 and select option 1 or email matt.hardy@glh.org.uk.
There are 7 important safety checks we carry out to make sure your home is safe. These include:
- Asbestos
- Electrical
- Fire
- Gas
- Specialist equipment (for example lifts, hoists)
- Water
- Damp and mould
You can read more about our approach to safety in our ‘Safety in the home‘ guide.
IMPORTANT – Please make sure you allow us to visit your property to carry out these safety checks in your home.
Asbestos is a natural substance made up of many tiny fibres. It is like a fluffy rock!
It was used for many years in buildings because it was a good at keeping in heat, good for sound proofing and was fire retardant.
Asbestos can break up into tiny fibres and if it is damaged or is disturbed these fibres can be harmful to a person’s health if breathed in.
Golden Lane Housing do checks every year on older properties to make sure that where asbestos has been used to build the property it is safe. If we find asbestos we may use specialist contractors to remove it.
Please let Golden Lane Housing know if you are thinking of doing any decorating in your home. We also let contractors know if there is asbestos in a property before they carry out any works to make sure it doesn’t get damaged.
For more information read our asbestos factsheet.
We send an electrician to survey your home every five years to make sure the electrical wiring is safe for you to use.
If we see anything that may cause concern, we replace it while we are there.
Read our electrical safety factsheet.
To make sure your home is fire safe, Golden Lane Housing will provide fire equipment protection in your home. For example, all homes will have smoke alarms.
In some cases, we may install fire doors, a full fire alarm system, emergency lighting or a sprinkler system.
We will come to your house and check the equipment to make sure it is working properly every year.
Lots of information and help about fire safety and what you can do in your home can be found in our Fire Safety Guide.
Read the Fire Safety Guide.
If you have gas appliances in your home we will need to do a safety check in your home once a year.
This is for your safety and your neighbours. The Gas Safety Check will look for any problems which, if left, could lead to a gas escape, fire, or a build-up of poisonous gas (carbon monoxide).
Read our gas safety in the home guide.
Golden Lane Housing sometimes supplies equipment of a specialist nature. For example, specialist beds, hoists and lifts in a building.
As long as this equipment is regularly inspected and maintained, it will remain safe to use.
Golden Lane Housing will ensure all the equipment that we have provided is inspected and maintained as the manufacturer has recommended and within the law.
To help us meet this requirement, and for your safety, you must allow our engineers into your property to assess your equipment.
Read our specialist equipment factsheet.
If your home has a cold water storage tank, Golden Lane Housing will ensure all water outlets are checked, at least every two years.
To help us meet this requirement, and for your safety, you must allow our engineers into your property to check your water pipes and tank, if you have one.
The engineer will test all waterpipe work in your home and will tell Golden Lane Housing if any plumbing work is needed.
The checks help us to find out if a home is at risk of Legionella.
To protect your home from Legionnaires’ disease, follow these simple steps:
- Run your taps weekly
- Keep hot water temperatures set to over 50°C
- Report any problems with your hot water or if cold water comes out warm for over a minute
- Make sure showerheads are kept clean
- If you leave your home for over 2 weeks when you come back run all your taps for 5 minutes before using the water
For more information read the water safety factsheet.
If you need to report damp and/or mould to us, you can call us on 0300 003 7007 and select option 1.
Please report all cases of damp and mould in your home, as soon as you notice them. This can help us to identify the cause sooner.
Once we identify the cause of the damp and mould, we will discuss with you what work needs to be completed and book in the necessary repairs work.
This work will be prioritised on a risk basis. If there are significant risks to you or your family’s health we will look to act urgently. If this is not possible, we may need to arrange with you a temporary move to another property whilst the work is carried out.
What we will do
The steps we will take, after you have let us know about damp and mould include:
- Listen to you and take your report seriously
- If needed, come out to inspect your home to find out what the cause is and what work might be required
- If needed, complete repair work to fix any structural or plumbing issues
- If needed, make improvements to the ventilation in your home (for example, installing extractor fans in your kitchen and bathroom)
- If needed, apply mould treatment
- In the case of mould, we would apply an application of an anti mould spray to remove it. This is then followed by an application of an anti condensation coating, with a second layer if required. These applications each need to dry for the treatment to be effective.
- Contact you after the works have been completed to confirm that the damp or mould has not returned.
Find out more in our damp, mould and condensation guide.