In November 2022, the coroner concluded that the death in 2020 of two-year-old Awaab Ishak was caused by prolonged exposure to mould in the family’s home. The problem had been reported to the family’s housing provider on many occasions but no action had been taken. No doubt, this has given all of us cause for…
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Contributed Articles
The silences in the system: Predicting and preventing damp and mould
The combination of our mild, drizzly climate and aging housing stock comprises the perfect breeding ground for damp and mould. It will continue to exist even after the pre-1970s tower blocks and maisonettes have been replaced by modern designs. Even an energy-efficient modern home can suffer from damp and mould if it’s over-occupied, under-heated and…
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Looking back and to the future: Cyberthreats in social housing
I recently celebrated my 25th work anniversary at Sophos and so I have spent some time reflecting on how much the cyberthreat landscape has changed over the past 25 years. In 1997, after responding to an advert in the Oxford Times and joining Sophos as employee number 49, I initially worked at our global HQ…
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Fuelling high performance automation
Like a high-performance engine relies on high-quality fuel, a high-performance automated process relies on high-quality data. How good is yours? The first printed use of the term, “garbage in, garbage out” was from a US Army specialist, William Mellin in 1957. Writing of the early work of Army mathematicians with computers, he explained that computers…
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An ethical approach to arrears
I was queuing in my local shop last week when I noticed an elderly gentleman topping up his meter credit. He was worried that the cost of fuel had become shockingly high, to the point where it was cheaper for him to go and sit in the pub nursing a single pint than to return…
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Housing and the ever-evolving workplace
There’s a difference between what we might call contemporary or trendy workplaces (perhaps the sorts with casual, open-plan offices, games rooms and nap pods) and what we mean when we refer to the modern workplace, although, of course, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. The term ‘modern workplace’ refers more to a set of technological, physical…
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