Healthy Housing Inspection Manual now available.

Editor’s note: This month’s column fea­ tures the preface from the newly released CDC/HUD Healthy Housing Inspection Manual. Request your CD-ROM copy of the manual by calling 1-800-CDC-INFO or sending an e-mail to [email protected]. As always, your comments are welcomed; please send them to [email protected]. NEHA strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmen­ tal health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature a column from the Environmen­ tal Health Services Branch (EHSB) of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven­ tion (CDC) in every issue of the Journal. In this column, EHSB and guest au­ thors from across CDC will highlight a variety of concerns, opportunities, chal­ lenges, and successes that we all share in environmental public health. EHSB’s ob­ jective is to strengthen the role of state, local, and national environmental health programs and professionals to anticipate, identify, and respond to adverse environ­ mental exposures and the consequences of these exposures for human health. The services being developed through EHSB include access to topical, relevant, and scientific information; consultation; and assistance to environmental health spe­ cialists, sanitarians, and environmental health professionals and practitioners. he Healthy Housing Inspection Manual completes the foundation of the Centers for Disease Control and PreT vention’s (CDC’s) Healthy Homes Initiative. The manual reflects the ongoing commit­ ment of both CDC and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to work together to provide local jurisdic­ tions with tools to address housing-related health hazards. Development of this manual was supported by the HUD and CDC Healthy Homes Initiatives. The agencies’ initiatives related to healthy homes were created to develop a holistic ap­ proach to healthy housing based on the fol­ lowing broad objectives. • Broaden the scope of single-issue pub­ lic health and safety programs—such as childhood lead poisoning prevention, residential asthma intervention, and injury prevention—to adopt a holistic approach addressing multiple housing deficiencies that affect health and safety. • Build competency among environmental public health practitioners, public health nurses, housing specialists, housing own­ ers, housing managers, and others who work in the community so they can incor­ porate healthy housing activities into their professional activities. • Develop national healthy homes capacity through cross-disciplinary grants, con­ tracts, and other activities at the federal, state, tribal, and community levels that research and demonstrate low-cost, effec­ tive home hazard assessment and inter­ vention methods. • Develop effective education and outreach materials, with a particular focus on highrisk populations, to increase public aware­ ness of residential hazards and highlight effective actions households can take to reduce the risk for illness and injury. The Healthy Housing Inspection Manual is a model reference tool that local jurisdictions or others may use as is or modify based on local needs. Use of the manual is expected to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the public health, housing management, and workforces that identify, prevent, and control health problems associated with housing. The manual does not introduce any inspection requirements, nor does it modify any existing inspection require­ ments for housing agencies, residents, HUD, or CDC. The manual is not a substitute for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Minimum Property Standards. The manual does not propose to establish any regulatory authority for HUD or CDC with regard to residential inspection requirements. The Healthy Housing Inspection Manual takes environmental health professionals and housing managers, specialists, and in­ spectors through the elements of a holistic home inspection. It is also a useful reference tool for nurses, outreach workers, and oth­ ers who are interested in preventing illness and injury due to residential health and safety hazards. The Healthy Housing Inspection Manual ad­ dresses the broad range of housing deficiencies and hazards that can affect residents’ health and safety. The purpose of the manual is to • improve communication and collaboration among public health professionals, hous­ ing professionals, property owners, and property managers;