The Trainer

Site Health and Safety Issues

In this issue, we discussed two topics important to the health and safety conditions at your site: lead-based paint and bedbugs. Here are some summary points to keep in mind.

FEDERAL LEAD DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS

If your building was built before 1978, when lead paint was banned nationwide, you must disclose the presence of lead hazards in rented units and common areas at your site.

In assisted housing, the completed and signed lead disclosure form is a required attachment to the lease. Give it and the required pamphlet to applicants before you sign the lease.

Some state and local requirements are tougher than the federal disclosure requirement. Consult your attorney about specific requirements for your location. Remember that meeting federal requirements does not mean you also automatically meet state and local requirements.

Once you are aware of any lead hazard at your site, or even if you merely suspect a hazard, you are obligated to investigate the problem and take steps to correct it.

BEDBUGS

You cannot treat a bedbug infestation in the same manner you treat other pests. You have to be more aggressive and use more resources. You have to anticipate that bedbugs will migrate from one unit to another.

It pays to find an experienced pest control vendor to work with. Avoid anyone who promises one-visit, sure-thing chemical treatments. Entomologists advise that you use a multiple-treatment approach, to kill hatchlings as well as adults.

To keep infestations from appearing—or worse, from reappearing—educate your residents about the problem, especially about the undesirability of bringing used furniture onto the site.

TRAINER'S QUIZ

INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the questions below has only one correct answer. On a separate sheet of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you have chosen—for example, (1) b, (2) a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!

Question #1

Bedbugs are confined to the northeastern United States. They are unlikely to be found in other regions of the country. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

Question #2

It is usually an easy matter to prove that a bedbug infestation is the responsibility of a resident. Managers should expect residents to bear some of the cost of treatment even if there is not a specific provision in the lease. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

Question #3

Fill in the blank: Bedbug bites __________ produce a site reaction like a welt or swelling.

1. Always.

2. Sometimes.

3. Never.

Question #4

The Smithville Pest Control Company has no experience dealing with bedbugs, but its quote to treat your site is 15 percent less than the quote from the Jonesville Company, which does have experience. Which company should you hire?

1. Smithville.

2. Jonesville.

3. Neither one.

Question # 5

Your pest control company has been lax in sending a report on its activities at your site. Should you let it slide, even though the company promised a report in your service contract?

1. No, make an issue of it.

2. Yes, you can let it slide. It's no big deal.

Question #6

Fill in the blank: The federal lead disclosure law applies only to housing built before 1978 __________.

1. whether or not there are children in the unit.

2. and only if there are children in the unit.

3. and only if the unit is subsidized by HUD.

Question #7

The only lead hazard at your site was in a common room and was cleared years ago. Do you have to report it?

1. Yes.

2. No.

Question #8

If you have a known lead hazard in one of your units, the familial status provision of federal fair housing law does not apply. You can lawfully keep residents with children out of that unit.

1. True.

2. False.

Question #9

You attach a federal disclosure form with every current lease. Do you have to issue a new one at every lease renewal?

1. Yes.

2. No.