This is North Wales Housing response to the Community Housing Cymru Safety First in Housing Statement
Safety First is a framework which supports housing associations to achieve and maintain a transparent approach to health and safety matters with their residents. It ensures responsiveness in dealing with safety related concerns from residents and empowers them to ensure their voices are heard. See link here for further information regarding Community Housing Cymru Safety First.
North Wales Housing (NWH) recognizes that the health & safety of residents involves all staff and residents. NWH welcomes reports of safety issues from all staff and residents. Residents are encouraged to report any health & safety concerns over the telephone or by email. Reports can also be made in person to members of staff.
NWH can be contacted on
- 01492 572727
- [email protected]
Please see listed below Safety First commitments set out by Community Housing Cymru, and how NWH meets these commitments.
- Establish a process to ensure that relevant and comprehensible health & safety information is consistently issued.
During the sign-up process all residents are provided with safety critical information such as:
- Smoke alarm
- Key advice and findings on fire safety
- Fire evacuation strategy for the building
- Gas safety certificates
- Asbestos information
- Electrical safety information
During planned maintenance and inspections/checks…
We have a Maintenance Communications Officer who works closely with our Asset Management team to communicate and liaise with tenants prior to and during planned repairs. Our Maintenance Communications Officer liaises with residents regarding access, identifying any vulnerabilities and ensuring any specific needs are communicated to and accommodated by any contractors carrying out planned repairs. The Maintenance Communications Officer is the main point of contact for tenants to raise queries or concerns during works.
Contractors and Asset Management Surveyors provide comprehensive explanation of the safe and effective use of any new equipment which is being installed.
If planned repairs cause any changes to the safety of a building, either temporarily or permanently, the Compliance Team will communicate this to residents, explaining any implications.
During responsive repairs…
When a tenant contacts the Customer Services Team to advise a repair is required, the Customer Service Advisor will discuss the problem with the tenant to ascertain if the problem is Health and Safety Related. Emergency Works are attended within 24 hours. Non-emergency, health and safety related works will be logged as an urgent repair and attended within 7 days. The Customer Services Advisor will provide safety advice to the tenant to mitigate risk. In some cases, a repair will be split into stages where the safety related work will be attended as an emergency to make the property safe with follow on works required for a full fix. Our Repairs staff or Contractors will explain the safety works to residents, providing advice of safe use of the home (such as avoiding an area of risk) and will provide information of when follow up works will be completed. If this information cannot be provided immediately (such as awaiting parts), the Customer Services Team will communicate with tenants to reschedule a job at the tenant’s convenience.
When risks emerge…
When risks appear, we will communicate the risks found to all affected residents along with our plan for resolution and details of any short-term mitigation we will put in place and how it may affect residents. Alongside this we will detail the timescale, access requirements and any other pertinent details that may affect residents. In all cases we will provide details of communication channels for each step of the works to ensure any resident concerns can be quickly and effectively addressed.
When risks emerge, we will also liaise with our insurers when necessary.
- Provide details on how to access further information on their property, so that residents can request this in an accessible format.
If you require further information regarding your home such as asbestos surveys, fire risk assessments, and energy performance certificates please contact us on 01492 562727 or [email protected]
- Ensure that information and advice issued takes account of residents’ differing needs.
All residents are asked to provide their communication preferences. We are a bilingual organisation and communicate to residents in their preferred language, Welsh and English. When requested we can also provide large print and braille.
4. Provide a clear process for raising concerns and complaints, including how to take complaints further if residents or their advocates remain concerned with the landlord’s response.
NWH is committed to dealing effectively with any concerns or complaints you may have about our service. Our complaints procedure and further information on how to make a complaint can be made here https://www.nwha.org.uk/complaint/
Complaints leaflets are also available in the reception area our four head office
5 Ensure that relevant interactions regarding concerns/complaints are assessed, collated and monitored in a central point.
Complaints are logged in a central place and monitored by a member of staff. Regular reports submitted to our Senior Leadership Team and Tenants & Communities Panel
Where there is a concern of Anti-Social Behaviour we follow our Anti-Social Behaviour policy and procedures.
6 Nurture awareness of health and safety issues amongst staff and empower them to take action where appropriate.
Every member of staff received health & safety training. Health & safety is also included in inductions for new members of staff.
7 Clearly outline to residents their own responsibilities in ensuring the safety of themselves, other residents and their homes.
Residents are advised of their responsibilities during the sign-up process and have their tenancy agreement explained to them. Residents’ responsibilities confirmed on our website
8 Provide the necessary support for residents to understand any information issued, as well as safety features relating to their property and their implications.
Full support is given during the sign-up process. Support and information are given to residents throughout their tenancies.
Support/information is given to residents to understand any information issued throughout their tenancy
