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Gas Safe Information

We rely on our gas boilers, cookers and fires to keep warm, have hot baths and showers and cook hot meals. It’s important that gas appliances are regularly serviced to help keep us safe and prevent them from breaking down when we need them the most.
Stay Gas Safe in your home with these top tips:

• Have all your gas appliances, including boilers, gas cookers and gas fires, safety checked annually.
• Always use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, fix and check gas appliances in your home – it’s the law and will help keep you safe.
• Always ask to see an engineers Gas Safe ID card and check the back of the card to ensure they are qualified to carry out the specific type of gas work you need.
• Recognize the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning – headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.
• Check gas appliances for warning signs that they are not working properly e.g. lazy yellow flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks or stains on or around the appliance and too much condensation in the room.
• Have us install a  carbon monoxide alarm for your home and make sure it is located near to your gas appliances in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidance. Carbon monoxide can leak from appliances and kill.
• Only use gas appliances for their intended purpose e.g. don’t use a gas oven to heat a room or use a gas barbeque inside the house.
• Always ensure there is enough ventilation for your gas appliances to allow them to burn correctly and make sure you are not blocking any air vents that provide an air supply to the gas appliance.
• Anybody working with gas has to be Gas Safe registered by law.Report someone working without registration or call Gas Safe Register on the free phone number 0800 408 5500.

News

9 million British families at deadly risk from faulty gas appliances but fail to take action

10th October 2011

Every year, millions of Brits are putting themselves and their families at risk of serious danger or indeed death in the home by turning a blind eye to the hazards posed by unsafe gas appliances, according to Gas Safe Register which launched Gas Safety Week 2011 to highlight the problem.

Of the 21 million gas-using homes in the UK, almost half (9 million) don’t have annual safety checks on their gas appliances and a shocking 1.6 million admit to never having had appliances checked. 97% understood that they were risking the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks or explosions by not having their appliances checked regularly.

When asked why they didn’t have their appliances checked, 37% cited cost as the main reason, 29% claimed it was only necessary if a problem needed fixing, 17% simply forgot to, and 8% said it was someone else’s responsibility.
Paul Johnston, Chief Executive of Gas Safe Register, said, “You wouldn’t drive your car year in year out without checking it to ensure the brakes and lights work. It’s no different with gas appliances. You risk endangering your family’s health and in some cases their lives. We are encouraging everyone to take care and be gas safe this week so that fewer people will suffer from preventable gas accidents.”
Corinne Sweet, psychologist said,

“Generally people tend to bury their head in the sand and believe something such as a serious accident couldn’t happen to them, and are very shocked when it does. The report from the Gas Safe Register shows that although people are aware of the risks of not having their appliances checked, 43% don’t have it done, a shocking statistic, which just highlights that British families really are playing with fire when it comes to gas safety.”

What to do in a gas emergency

Can you smell gas?

Feeling ill? Headaches... nausea... dizziness?

Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas boilers, cookers and fires can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.

In a gas emergency act quickly and take the following safety steps:

• Get fresh air immediately. Open all doors and windows to ventilate the room
• Switch off the appliance and do not use it again until it has been checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Turn off the gas supply at the mains
• Call the National Gas Emergency number (see below)
• If you are feeling ill visit your GP or the hospital immediately and tell them that your symptoms may be related to carbon monoxide poisoning
• Contact a Gas Safe registered engineer to check and fix the appliance.

National Gas Emergency number: 0800 111 999.