Fire, Security and Safety

Lo-Carbon Revive 7 fans from leading British ventilation manufacturer, Vent-Axia, are proving crucial in a social housing disrepair case. The fans were installed as part of an extensive renovation of a social housing property to alleviate condensation and mould issues. Yet the problems persisted. Thanks to the fans’ datalogging ability, it has been proven that the fans have been tampered with by the resident. This data is proving crucial in protecting the landlord from being prosecuted.

As fire-safety concerns continue to pose major challenge for housing providers across the UK, successful remediations are to be celebrated. We spoke with Richard Izzard, managing director at aluminium decking manufacturer AliDeck, about a recent retrofit project in Lewisham.

With the ongoing flammable cladding and fire-safety crisis occupying the trade headlines on a daily basis, it is easy to begin to feel an uncomfortable familiarity with the scandal and to perhaps start to lose sight of its devastating impact, both on building owners in the housing sector and on residents.

Social housing providers are just one of a wide range of organisations that have warmed to the latest solution to letterbox security from Midlands-based Blockabox. Others taking up the options on the new solution include UK Fire and Rescue Services, Police Forces and wider landlord businesses keen on stopping residential and commercial properties from being targeted  by arson attacks, anti-social behaviour and nuisance and unsolicited mail dropping through doors of void properties and causing potential fire hazards.

Aico are delighted to have been selected as a supplier on all categories of the West Midlands Fire Service Framework, which will shortly be available to all UK Fire & Rescue Services (subject to contract).

The West Midlands Fire Service Framework will facilitate the procurement of Fire and Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms for all UK Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), in a move towards the standardisation of requirements as outlined in regulations. As part of the supplier status, market-leading Aico will provide Smoke, Heat and CO alarms, including their technologically advanced, award-winning alarms for total protection.

The preference from the ‘Health and Safety Executive’ is that access to high level areas are either restricted or prevented with plant placed at ground level. However, when access is required for complying with roof warrantees and also the clearing of debris with other maintenance issues, this is often impossible to achieve.
To find out the solution, Housing Association Magazine hears from SAFETYWORKS & SOLUTIONS MD Marco Norman, the UK’s leading ‘Safety at Height ’ experts...

From appliances to energy management, the role of ‘smart home’ technology continues to expand. Previously only seen in private homes, smart technology is making inroads into affordable housing too. This comes as no surprise to those in the industry, since Housing Associations are already taking advantage of technology for effective asset management or improving tenant comfort and wellbeing.

Social landlords are increasingly realising that the Internet of Things (IoT) can bring many benefits directly to their organisations through improved maintenance efficiencies, investment optimisation and compliance. It is also increasingly clear that there are many benefits to residents including improving health, safety and wellbeing while also providing opportunities to help them save money. This isn’t just anecdotal evidence, but is clearly backed up by recent research HomeLINK carried out with over 50 landlords. Figure 1 indicates that the resident related benefits such as tackling fuel poverty and improving living conditions and energy efficiency are among those most associated with IoT adoption in social housing.