Call for health and safety investigation over Carlisle tenants' asbestos fears » Housing » 24dash.com

A tenant group and a trade union have called for a health and safety investigation amid claims that up to 10,000 former council houses in Carlisle may contain asbestos.

The fears came to light after joiners working for Carlisle Housing Association (CHA), which now owns the properties, refused to work on removing the material from homes. The association is due to hold a number of investigative hearings.

Housing chiefs this week clashed with officials of the construction union UCATT, which has a "zero tolerance" policy on asbestos.

The union says that only specialist companies trained in the safe handling of asbestos should work with it.

The Health & Safety Executive says CHA has not breached any asbestos guidelines, but there is growing concern that tenants in the past may have inadvertently put themselves at risk by carrying out DIY on their homes, unaware that there may be asbestos present.

CHA has confirmed that residents wishing to work on their homes were not routinely warned of the danger because asbestos safety regulations only covered the material in public buildings.

Carlisle MP Eric Martlew has called for an independent assessment of the potential risk posed by the material within CHA properties.

The Carlisle and Rural Tenants Federation issued a statement claiming as many as 10,000 former council homes in Carlisle may have undetected asbestos.

Both the Federation and UCATT want an audit of all CHA homes to establish what asbestos is there whether or not there is a risk, particularly to tenants doing DIY.

John Scott, UCATT's regional secretary covering Cumbria, said that his union is now so concerned about asbestos in CHA properties that it has asked its general secretary Alan Ritchie to investigate.