Safety Advice
Gas Emergency? Call the FREE helpline on 0800 111 999
(24 hour service – 365 days a year)
If you are concerned about a gas safety issue, would like to find details of local registered installers or simply wish to learn more about the safe use of gas, there are organisations established who may be able to help.
Some useful contacts are:
HSE Gas Safety Home Page
www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/index.htm
The HSE also operates a Gas Safety Advice Line: 0800 300 363
Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
www.ofgem.gov.uk
COCAA
www.becarbonmonoxideaware.com
Gas Safe Register
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk
Gas Escapes
If you smell gas inside your property, firstly, check to see if the gas has been left on unlit or the pilot light has gone out. Ventilate the room before attempting to relight the appliance.
Generally, if you smell gas, either inside or outside your property or think you have a gas leak from an appliance or pipes within your property you should call 0800 111 999 immediately
Customers where possible should:
- Turn off the control valve at the meter
- Extinguish all naked flames
- Open doors and windows for ventilation
- Ensure they do not use any electrical switches
If you use LPG contact your supplier immediately. Their details should be on the cylinder or tank or a notice behind your emergency shut off valve outside your house.
Fumes
If there are fumes escaping from your gas appliance they may contain Carbon Monoxide – a colourless, odourless gas. If you believe fumes are escaping you should call 0800 111 999 immediately.
Badly fitted and poorly serviced appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas. You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but it can kill quickly with no warning.
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 symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning – headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.
If you believe you have been exposed to Carbon Monoxide it is advisable to seek a blood test within 4 hours of the suspected exposure.
If you use LPG contact your supplier immediately. Their details should be on the cylinder or tank or a notice behind your emergency shut off valve outside your house.
For further information please visit the CO Be Alarmed Campaign website
Appliances
Customers are advised to have gas appliances checked each year by a Gas Safe Register engineer. It is important that gas appliances have adequate ventilation and that flues are not blocked to ensure the appliance is working effectively. If in doubt, contact your local registered gas installer for advice.
Owner- occupiers who are elderly, chronically sick or disabled may be eligible for free safety checks from their gas supplier.
Tenants and Landlords
There are specific obligations on landlords with regard to their tenants and gas safety. Details can be found on the HSE Web site at http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/gas_law.htm.
Gas Boilers - Flues in Voids
(Update to HSE safety alert issued 2nd October 2008)
Introduction:
This Safety Notice provides updated information to that in the safety alert[1] that was issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 2nd October 2008 following a death earlier that year.
The purpose of the original Alert was to raise awareness of the potential dangers from certain types of flues connected to gas-fired central heating installations in some properties (particularly, but not exclusively, a large number of flats and apartments completed since about 2000) that may not have been installed properly, or may have fallen into disrepair.
Where boilers are located away from external walls, flues are more likely to run through ceiling (or wall) voids. In such cases when the gas appliance is serviced or maintained it can be difficult, or impossible, to determine whether the flue has been installed correctly or whether it is still in good condition.
Where a flue fault exists in combination with a boiler which is not operating correctly, dangerous levels of carbon monoxide (CO)[2] could be released into the living accommodation. CO is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, poisonous gas produced by incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels. It stops the blood from bringing oxygen to cells, tissues, and organs and can kill quickly, without warning.
Action required:
The revised technical guidance requires inspection hatches to be fitted in properties where the flue is concealed within voids and cannot be inspected. The homeowner (or landlord etc.) has until 31st December 2012 to arrange for inspection hatches to be installed. Any gas engineer working on affected systems after 1st January 2013 will advise the homeowner that the system is "at risk" (AR) in accordance with the GIUSP and, with the owner's permission will turn off the gas supply to the boiler so it cannot be used.
In the interim period, where no inspection hatches are fitted, the registered gas engineers will carry out a simple risk assessment which should ensure that the risk from exposure to CO is managed in the short-term. This risk assessment includes:
- looking for signs of leakage along the flue route; and
- carrying out a flue combustion analysis check (and obtaining a satisfactory result); and
- checking for the presence of suitable audible carbon monoxide (CO) alarms (and installing such alarms where they are not already fitted).
As long as this boiler passes the series of safety checks and the risk assessment does not identify any concerns about its safety, it can be left on. Suitable inspection hatches will however need to be fitted to the ceiling (or wall, as appropriate) by end 31st December 2012. Wherever possible it is recommended that inspection hatches are fitted before this date.
Once inspection hatches have been fitted, the gas engineer will be able to make sure that the flue is safe and was installed in line with the relevant standards and manufacturer’s instructions.
For further informations please visit the HSE and Gas Safe Register websites.
Registered Installers
By law, anyone carrying out gas work must be registered with Gas Safe Register. To protect yourself and your family, you should ask to see your installers ID card.
The front of the card shows their photograph, name, individual licence number and card expiry date.
On the reverse, you will find details of the areas of gas work that person is competent to undertake.
For more information visit the Gas Safe Register website