Home safety

Abstract

There are more accidents in the home than many other environments, yet there is no duty on local authorities to promote domes tic safety per se and the discretionary powers under the Home Safety Act 1961 are rarely used. The local authority remit in safe hous ing is therefore largely through housing enforcement and grant led activity. The main statutory controls available to local authori ties in addressing home safety are found under various Housing Acts, in particular the statutory standard of fitness for habitation, which can provide remedy for some, although not all, potential home accidents. There are many potential hazards in the home which current legislation fails to address. This is one reason why a new stan dard of assessing domestic conditions - the Housing Health and Safety Rating System- is currently being considered. This new sys tem seeks to change the current emphasis on a 'materials and construction specification' type approach to a system based on known domestic hazards and their reduction ('per formance specification') although there remains much debate around the subject. This paper considers the current and pro posed systems and other opportunities avail able to local authorities in addressing the major area of home safety.