Gas Safety Week: Keeping our nation safe

We are proud to be supporting Gas Safety Week taking place 14th - 20th September 2015.

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of your gas appliances. It is co-ordinated by Gas Safe Register, the official list of gas engineers who are legally allowed to work on your gas appliances.

Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. Every year thousands of people across the UK are diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning. It is a highly poisonous gas. You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but it can kill quickly with no warning.

By taking care of your gas appliances properly you are taking care of your propeerty and your loved ones. Follow these few simple checks to keep you and your family safe.

• Check your Landlord’s Gas Safety Record. By law, your landlord must keep gas appliances supplied for you to use in good condition. They should arrange a gas safety check every 12 months and give you a record of the check.

• Check any gas appliances you own every year. Gas appliances should be safety checked once a year and serviced regularly by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

• Check your engineer is Gas Safe registered. You can find and check an engineer at www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.

• Check the engineer’s Gas Safe Register ID card. Make sure they are qualified for the work you need doing. You can find this information on the back of the card.

• Check for warning signs your appliances aren’t working correctly e.g. lazy yellow or orange flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks on or around the appliance and too much condensation in the room.

• Check you know the six signs of carbon monoxide poisoning – headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapse and loss of consciousness.

• Check you have an audible carbon monoxide alarm. This will alert you if there is carbon monoxide in your home.

   

  Gas Safe Register is the official list of gas engineers who are qualified to work safely and legally on gas appliances. By law, all gas engineers must be on the Gas Safe Register. It replaced CORGI. Only use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, fix or service your appliances and always check the engineer’s Gas Safe Register ID card.

   

  All Gas Safe registered engineers carry a Gas Safe Register ID card. Before any gas work is carried out always check the card and make sure the engineer is qualified for the work you need doing.

   

  Protect yourself from the dangers by following these simple steps:

   

• Only use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, fix or service your appliances

• Get your gas appliances regularly serviced and safety checked every year

• Fit an audible carbon monoxide alarm

• Check for warning signs such as lazy yellow flames or black marks or stains around the appliance.

• Know the six main signs and symptons of carbon monoxide poisoning - headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.

   

  Always ask for a Gas Safe registered engineer and always ask to see their ID card. If you suspect anyone to be working illegally report them to Gas Safe Register. If you have had gas work done in your property in the last six months, you can nominate it for a free gas safety inspection.

  Landlords have responsibilities for gas safety. All gas appliances provided by the landlord must be correctly maintained and a gas safety check must be carried out every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

   

  If you are a tenant always:

   

• Ask for a copy of the landlord’s current gas safety record before you move in or after the being carried out.

• Check the ID card of any gas engineer that comes to do work in your home. The engineer must be Gas Safe registered.

• Check the engineer is qualified for the work you need doing, You can find this information on the back of the ID card.

• Cooperate with your landlord and let a registered engineer in when a gas safety check or servicing has to be done.

• Arrange for any gas appliances you own to be regularly serviced and safety checked every year.

   

  Remember, if you think a gas appliance is faulty turn it off and let your landlord know immediately. Badly fitted and poorly serviced appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. If you feel unwell seek medical help immediately.

   

   

  Landlords are legally responsible for the safety of their tenants. Landlords should make sure maintenance and annual safety checks on gas appliances are carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

   

  By law landlords must make sure:

   

• Pipe-work, appliances and flues provided for tenants are maintained in a safe condition

• That all appliances and flues that they provide for tenants use have an annual safety check

• That maintenance and annual safety checks are carried out by an engineer registered with Gas Safe Register

• All gas equipment (including any appliance left by a previous tenant) is safe or otherwise removed before re-letting

• A gas safety record is provided to the tenant within 28 days of completing the check or to any new tenant before they move in

• They keep a copy of the gas safety record for two years

   

  Before any gas work is carried out always check the engineers ID card and make sure the engineer is qualified for the work you need doing. Encourage your tenants to do the same.

   

  Registering with Gas Safe Register is a legal requirement for anyone carrying out gas work in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Guernsey.

   

  To make sure that gas appliances such as boilers, fires, ovens and hobs are fitted, fixed and serviced safely, only a Gas Safe registered engineer should carry out the work. If someone other than a Gas Safe registered engineer undertakes gas work, they are breaking the law and could put lives at risk. To prove they are legally permitted to work on gas, all Gas Safe registered engineers have an ID card with their own unique licence number and a photograph. Those in the building industry must always check that engineers contracted to undertake gas work are on the Gas Safe Register.

   

  As Gas Safe registered engineers you can feel safe in the knowledge that we are competent and qualified to work safely and legally with gas. By using a Gas Safe registered engineer you are protecting yourself and your family from incorrectly fitted, fixed and serviced gas appliances. These are a major cause of lethal carbon monoxide poisoning, and can also lead to gas leaks, fires and explosions.

   

  Always ask for our Gas Safe Register ID card and check the back of the card to make sure we are qualified for the work you need. To check our registration details visit www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500. Take care, be Gas Safe.