Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Stewart, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Home safety

Jill Stewart, BSc Hons, MCIEH, MSc, FRGS, FRSH

University of Greenwich (Dartford Campus), Oakfield Lane, Kent DA1 2SZ, England

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.

Key Words: Environmental health officers • health and housing • health promotion • home safety • housing legislation • Local Government

The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, Vol. 121, No. 1, 16-22 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/146642400112100106
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?