The annual National Gas Safety Week is coordinated by the Gas Safe Register, which oversees the official list of Gas Safe Registered installers and engineers. It aims to raise awareness amongst householders, landlords and businesses about the importance of taking care of gas appliances and having them serviced on an annual basis.
Connaire McGreevy, Founder and Managing Director of CTS Projects Limited, said, “As one of Northern Ireland’s leading facilities management companies we would urge householders, landlords and business owners with gas appliances to carry out an annual safety check on those appliances, using a Gas Safe Registered engineer.
“We are especially encouraging people across Northern Ireland to reach out to friends and family, be they elderly parents or a disabled neighbour, to ensure they get their gas appliances – along with their own – safe checked at least once a year.
“Over 195,000 households and 12,500 businesses in Northern Ireland use gas for heating, hot water and cooking1 so it is really crucial that people remember to safe check their appliances regularly.
“We would also highly recommend that approved carbon monoxide detectors are installed in gas using households and businesses and that they are serviced annually.”
Poorly maintained or faulty gas appliances can cause inefficiencies, produce gas leaks, result in carbon monoxide poisoning and potential explosions.
In the last year, at least 55,200 homes in the UK escaped deadly gas incidents such as these, thanks to engineers switching off dangerous appliances2.
By law, only Gas Safe registered engineers can work on gas appliances. There have been 22 deaths and nearly 1,000 gas-related injuries in the last three years3.
An estimated quarter of a million illegal gas jobs are carried out every year by unregistered workers, who do not have the skills or the qualifications to do the job safely.
Householders can sign up to a free annual gas safety check reminder service at www.staygassafe.co.uk
If you smell gas or think there might be a gas leak, call the free 24 hour national gas emergency number immediately on 0800 111 999.
1 http://www.uregni.gov.uk/gas/market_overview/
2 Gas Safe Register surveyed 1,199 registered engineers between July 2015 and June 2016. Amongst surveyed gas engineers, 46 per cent said they had switched off a deadly appliance in the last year. There are 120,000 registered engineers, so 46 per cent equates to at least 55,200 homes avoiding a deadly gas incident.
3 22 people died from gas related incidents in the UK in the last three years and 949 non-fatalities were reported (Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/ridgas1.xls statistics 2012-15 (provisional)
