Help
Gas Safety Week (15th-21st September)
| Published: 15th September 2014 15:19 |
At least 12,300 homes in the South East escaped deadly gas incidents in the last year
To mark the start of Gas Safety Week (15 – 21 September), newly released research has revealed at least 12,300 homes across the South East have escaped deadly gas incidents, such as explosions, fires and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, in the last year.
· One in six homes in the South East found to have an unsafe gas appliance
· MILTON KEYNES was the most dangerous area in the region, with one in four homes being found unsafe, followed by: MEDWAY (one in five homes unsafe), PORTSMOUTH (one in seven homes unsafe), LUTON (one in seven homes unsafe), OXFORD (one in 10 homes unsafe) and BRIGHTON (one in 13 homes unsafe).
· 21,697 engineers are based in the region and are supporting Gas Safety Week (15 – 21 Sept)
Watch the video (here) to see firsthand the tragic consequences that can unfold if you don’t have your gas appliances checked regularly by a Gas Safe engineer, and to hear from Max Schenker who lost his 31-year-old brother, Robert to carbon monoxide poisoning. A series of easily avoidable instances resulted in tragedy- highlighting the importance of making sure your gas appliances are checked by a Gas Safe engineer.
The research carried out among Gas Safe registered engineers revealed that over half (57 per cent) found a dangerous gas boiler, cooker or fire in a customer’s home in the last year that needed turning off immediately. Around half (45 per cent) of these dangerous appliances were attributed to the fact that people had failed to get their gas appliance regularly serviced and had been left in a poor state.
Gas Safe Register has inspected 19,445 homes in the South East in the past four years and found unsafe gas appliances lurking in one in six homes.
In addition, Southern Gas Networks found over 16,500 unsafe gas appliances at emergency callouts attended in just the last year across the region.
21,697 registered engineers across the South East are tirelessly working to keep the public safe and reduce the number of unsafe homes – many of which are caused by people failing to get their gas appliances safety checked by registered engineers.
Last year, Gas Safe Register launched the first ever interactive gas map - www.StayGasSafe.co.uk - which tells people how safe or unsafe their area is when it comes to gas by simply entering their post code. People can also sign up to a free gas safety check reminder service which will alert them when their gas appliances need checking.
Follow Gas Safe Register’s advice this Gas Safety Week:
1. Get your gas appliances safety checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. You can sign up to a reminder service and find out about the gas dangers in your area by visiting http://www.staygassafe.co.uk/
2. Check the front and back of your engineer’s Gas Safe Register ID card, making sure they are qualified to do the specific type of gas work you require.
3. Check gas appliances for warning signs that they are not working correctly. A lazy yellow flame, black marks or stains around the appliance, or too much condensation in the room are all signs that your appliances aren’t safe.
4. Know the six main symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.
To find a Gas Safe registered engineer and for further gas safety advice visit www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.
Gas Safe Register surveyed 1,658 UK registered engineers in June 2014. Amongst surveyed gas engineers, 57 per cent said they had switched off a deadly appliance in the last year. If the same proportion of 21,697 gas engineers in the South East had switched off a deadly appliance in the last year, this would equate to at least 12,300 homes avoiding a deadly gas incident.
45 per cent of engineers surveyed said the reason they had to turn off a gas appliance in the past 12 months was because the appliance had been poorly maintained.
Gas Safe Register has inspected 19,445 homes in the South East for the period 1 April 2010 – 1 May 2014:
- 1,569 of these homes are in Milton Keynes, 25 per cent (one in four) were unsafe
- 1,558 of these homes are in Medway, 21 per cent (one in five) were unsafe
- 1,056 of these homes are in Portsmouth, 15 per cent (one in seven) were unsafe
- 822 of these homes are in Luton, 14 per cent (one in seven) were unsafe
- 1,178 of these homes are in Oxford, 10 per cent (one in 10) were unsafe
- 1,465 of these homes are in Brighton, 8 per cent (one in 13) were unsafe
In the last year, the Gas Distribution Network for the South East, Southern Gas Networks, found 16,538 unsafe gas appliances (cookers, boilers and fires) following emergency callouts.
Health and Safety Executive gas statistics from 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 for Great Britain http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm#gas
There were 152,709 visits to www.staygassafe.co.uk from September 2013 – July 2014
ABOUT GAS SAFE REGISTER
Gas Safe Register is the registration body appointed by the Health and Safety Executive to manage the gas safety register in Great Britain - it also operates in Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Guernsey. It is a legal requirement for anyone carrying out domestic and commercial gas work to be registered, and comply with the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 and relevant legislation in the other territories. The register of more than 122,000 gas engineers held by Gas Safe Register aims to protect people from unsafe gas work. Gas Safe Register assesses the competence of engineers by inspecting the gas work they have carried out to make sure they are safe to work on gas. Gas Safe Register is focused on gas safety and campaigns to raise awareness of gas safety risks associated with using illegal gas workers.
Gas Safe Register deals with all aspects of the downstream gas industry covered by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. It covers both piped natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas registration scheme in Great Britain 1 April 2009 and Northern Ireland on 1 April 2010 2010 www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk
Follow the GasSafeRegister on twitter @GasSafeRegister and 'like' them on Facebook www.facebook.com/GasSafeRegister
Report this article as inappropriate
Comments
You need to log in before you can do that! It's only a quick registration process to join the AMA network and completely free.
Loading...
Help