Winter Focus: Gas Safety

It is a legal requirement that any gas safety work must be undertaken by an engineer that is Gas Safe registered.

In recent prosecution news a man has been fined and given a suspended prison sentence after working on a number of boilers without being Gas Safe registered. High Wycombe Crown Court heard how Philip Locke carried out work on a boiler in 2013 without being registered, faults were later found with the boiler.

Mr Philip Locke of Chalfont St Giles, High Wycombe pleaded guilty to two charges under the Gas Safety Regulations 1998. He was  sentenced to four months imprisonment suspended for one year and fined £6500 and ordered to pay costs of £6280.

During the winter months we are all running our heating regularly and many of us rely on various gas appliances for the provision of heat, hot water and cooking of food. We look here at some of our top gas safety tips and requirements to keep your business safe during this cold period.

• Annual industry safety tests need to be conducted on all gas appliances and flues in the premises to ensure that safety requirements are met.
• Gas safety tests would need to be conducted by engineers who are registered with the Gas Safety Register.
• Find or check for a gas safety registered engineer in your area using the following link https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/find-an-engineer/ or you could contact 0800 4085500.
• Awareness of symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning must be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. These include loss of consciousness, breathlessness, nausea, headaches, dizziness and collapse.
• Provision of audible Carbon Monoxide monitors in the location of gas appliances and equipment cannot be understated. This can prove to be a very valuable early warning system and could save your business from a possible catastrophe.
• Ensure that gas appliances are used for their intended purpose. Where gas cookers are used, ensure that adequate ventilation is provided. It is important that ventilation systems are not blocked or obscured.
• Whilst there is no actual requirement for routine gas tightness tests to be carried out, annual gas safety inspection tests do need to be carried out on commercial properties.

Instances where gas safety tightness tests are required:

In the event where the gas meter has either been replaced or damaged, gas safety tightness tests would need to be conducted by the provider.

In instances where there is evidence of a gas leak the Gas Emergency Service Provider would need to be contacted on 0800111999 where a gas safety tightness test would be conducted.

For further information regarding gas safety requirements:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2451/made

https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/gas-safety-in-the-home/gas-safety-tips/

Source:

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2017/suspended-sentence-for-unregistered-gas-worker/?eban=govdel-press-release&cr=09-Feb-2017

https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/gas-safety-in-the-home/gas-safety-tips/

http://www.cs-compliance.co.uk/gas-tightness-test-requirements-for-commercial-premises/