Randomised Controlled Trial of Boiler Management Systems in Social Housing in Camden: An Assessment of Health, Environmental and Economic Outcomes

The annual hospital admission rate in England for burns and scalds is 31 children per 100,000 population. While reducing the temperature in domestic hot water tanks is a recommended injury prevention strategy, the UK has been slow to adopt such 'passive' safety measures. However, Camden Council employs a Boiler Management System (BMS) in boiler houses to centrally set the hot water temperature for parts of its social housing stock, providing the opportunity to evaluate various impacts of a 'passive' safety measure, including quantifying the effects of the BMS on average hot water temperatures at delivery, annual energy costs, and annual greenhouse gas emissions; modelling the reduction in scald injuries; identifying the cost-effectiveness of the system as a public health intervention; as well as describing experiences/ perceptions of risk of scalding and identifying health and social benefits of the BMS. Boiler houses with BMS will be randomised to remain at their constant set temperature or to BMS reduced temperature and sterilisation programme. A process evaluation will also be undertaken to assess the acceptability of water temperatures to tenants.