Eyes & Ears: Multi-Hazard Awareness for Operatives

Eyes & Ears: Multi-Hazard Awareness for Operatives

COURSE OVERVIEW:

Your operatives are already in tenants’ homes every day. Gas engineers, electricians, joiners and caretakers see damp and mould, damaged fire doors, overloaded sockets and residents who are struggling. This half-day course trains them to spot those hazards and report them early, through your own reporting route.

It’s awareness and reporting only. Your operatives don’t become HHSRS assessors. They become your extra eyes and ears.

• Who it’s for: in-house electricians, gas and heating engineers, plumbers, joiners and multi-trades; voids operatives and inspectors; caretakers, estate officers and cleaning teams; compliance contractors (gas servicing, electrical testing, fire doors, water hygiene and pest control); and the resident liaison officers and repairs schedulers who take their reports
• Delivery: face to face, at your premises, for up to 12 delegates. Mixed-trade groups work best
• Duration: half day (3.5 hours). A full-day version with a supervised walk-round of a void property or communal block is also available
• Certificate: OHSS certificate of completion (not externally accredited), plus a training record for your files
• Price: on request. Tell us your group size and location for a quote.

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WHY IT MATTERS NOW:

Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law comes into force on 30 November 2026. For social landlords – housing associations and councils that let homes – it brings excess cold and heat, falls, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, domestic hygiene and pests, and structural collapse within Awaab’s Law’s fixed timescales when they pose a significant risk. Emergency hazards of every type have been covered since 27 October 2025.

A social landlord can be treated as aware of a hazard when a tenant or other occupier reports it, and may be when its own staff or contractors become aware of it. That can start the clock: emergency hazards must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours, and significant hazards investigated within 10 working days.

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WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why what you see in a home matters under Awaab’s Law
• The signs of the 21 HHSRS hazards, in plain English and at awareness level
• Fire safety warning signs: damaged or wedged fire doors, broken compartmentation, missing smoke and CO alarms, unsafe e-bike and mobility scooter charging, and blocked escape routes
• Signs of hoarding, self-neglect and people at risk, and how to follow your safeguarding route
• How urgently to report, and what a good report contains
• How to avoid creating hazards yourself, such as leaving service penetrations unsealed
• Where your role stops: no hazard scoring, no promises to residents and no blaming tenants’ lifestyle

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KEY TOPICS COVERED:

• Awareness, not assessment: the HHSRS hazards and Awaab’s Law in plain English
• Damp, mould, cold and heat
• Fire safety warning signs in flats and communal areas
• Electrical, gas, falls, structure, hygiene and pests
• People at risk: hoarding, self-neglect and safeguarding
• See it. Snap it. Send it.: red, amber and green reporting priorities, with a pocket card showing your own reporting routes

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ASSESSMENT: a photo hazard challenge, a short knowledge check and a scenario report. No written exam.

We tailor every course to your own reporting route, out-of-hours number, safeguarding lead and e-bike policy. It pairs well with our Assessing Housing Hazards: HHSRS and Awaab’s Law course for housing officers and managers. See all our housing safety training.