Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard how Eric Parry, trading as EHP Building Services, removed pipework that supplied gas to a cooking hob at a family home in Rhoose, South Wales without sealing the end of the pipe to ensure it was in a safe condition.

Gas Safe Register who inspected his work classed it as ‘Immediately Dangerous’.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Parry completed this work in May 2016, despite having previously been served a Prohibition Notice in 2011 for unregistered gas work.

Eric Parry, of Parc Bryn Derwen, Pontyclun, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 3 (2) and 22 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and breaching Regulations 3(1), 3(3) and 6(2) of the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations 1998.

He was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay full costs of £1,788.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector, Gethyn Jones, said: “Eric Parry undertook gas work which he knew he was not registered to do and as a result he endangered a mother, father and their four-year-old twins.

“All gas work must be completed by competent Gas Safe Registered engineers to ensure the highest standards are met to prevent injury and loss of life.”

Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court heard how David Corry failed to present a Landlords Gas Safety Record to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) after numerous attempts from HSE representatives to obtain this certificate.

On 11 August 2016, HSE served Mr Corry with an Improvement Notice requiring him to arrange for a registered gas fitter to carry out an inspection of the gas appliances in one of his tenanted premises in Stafford, and to produce a Landlords Gas Safety Record. Mr Corry failed to comply with the Improvement Notice.

Mr David John Corry of Springfield Drive, Stafford, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and Section 21 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to serve a total of 36 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to complete 140 hours unpaid work. Mr Corry was also ordered to pay costs of £6,428.46.

HSE Inspector Wayne Owen said: “David Corry potentially put the health of his tenants at risk and also chose to ignore the repeated requests by the HSE to produce the gas safety record.

“Every year around seven people die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues that have not been properly installed, maintained or that are poorly ventilated. It is important that landlords fulfil their legal gas safety obligations to their tenants.”

Burst Pipes

Don't Panic! The first thing to do is to prevent water passing the point of the leak. Turn off all stop valves (sometimes called stop cocks) which are often sited under the kitchen sink. If there isn’t an internal valve, turn off the water at the external valve which may be under a cover in your garden or path.
If the escaping water cannot be controlled immediately, open all cold water taps so that the pipework and storage system drains quickly. DO NOT TURN ON HOT TAPS. Turn off the central heating system and, if it uses a solid fuel boiler, allow the fire to die out. Switch off any electric immersion heater, then call a professional plumber.

Frozen Pipes

If a pipe freezes, turn off the mains water supply at the stop valve inside your home. If the frozen pipe runs from a storage cistern and is not controlled by a valve, check that it hasn’t split. If it has, empty the cold water storage cistern by opening the cold water taps and flushing the WC. If you know how to, you could siphon the water from the cistern with a hose pipe, then call a professional plumber. If the pipe isn’t split, thaw it out by applying hot water bottles.If any part of the hot water system is frozen, there could be a risk of explosion if the boiler (or other heat source) is kept alight, so ensure it is turned off, or for solid fuel systems, extinguish the fire. Be careful as although water may be flowing from taps, other parts of the system may still be frozen.

• Don’t try to thaw it too quickly as there may be splits in the pipe which are not immediately noticeable.
• Never use a naked flame to thaw a pipe.
• Always start thawing a pipe at the end nearest the tap.

Smell Gas?

National Grid operates a free emergency 24 hour telephone number if you detect gas - 0800 111 999. Deaf or hearing impaired - minicom / textphone 0800 371787.

• Never ignite a naked flame / strike a match etc.
• Never touch any electrical appliance (including light switches).
• Put out naked flames.
• Open doors and windows.
• Keep people away from the affected area.
• Turn off the gas supply at the meter using the control valve.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is produced when carbon based fuels such as gas, oil, coal and wood are not burnt correctly. This can be caused by incorrect installation of appliances and their flues. Incorrect ventilation and lack of servicing can also cause an appliance to burn incorrectly. If flames appear lazy and yellow and appliances are surrounded by large amounts of soot, these are telltale signs that CO is being produced.

Exposure to Carbon Monoxide can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and fatigue, and severe cases can lead to convulsions, unconsciousness and even death.
If you are start feeling the symptoms of CO poisoning get outside of the property straight away. If you have been feeling ill and suspect CO poisoning ask your doctor for a CohB test. In severe cases call 999 immediately.

Ensure that all appliances are serviced on a regular basis, and fit a CO alarm, making sure that it meets the EN50291 Standard. Your CIPHE installer can fit one of these.

Earlier this week, when Gas Safe Register’s Gas Safety Week 2017 began, we reminded all landlords of their legal obligations regarding gas safety, to ensure that you keep your tenants safe when they’re living in your properties.

Although gas safety is important all year round, Gas Safety Week is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness amongst homeowners, landlords and tenants of their responsibilities concerning gas safety.

Our partner Just Landlords has also highlighted this week how costly failing to comply with your legal duties can be – watch out!

To help all landlords keep their properties gas safe and protect their tenants’ health and safety, we have created a comprehensive guide to your responsibilities. Read it for free here: https://landlordnews.co.uk/landlords-guide-gas-safety/

Although Gas Safety Week comes to a close on Sunday, we are calling on all landlords to stick to the law and comply with all of the regulations regarding gas safety.

The Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark (the Association of Residential Letting Agents), David Cox, reiterates the organisation’s support for gas safety awareness: “As Gas Safety Week draws to a close, ARLA Propertymark highlights the campaign and the importance of gas safety. Agents and landlords are legally responsible for the safety of their tenants, so it’s important they ensure that maintenance and annual safety checks on gas appliances are carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. In the last three years, there have been 22 deaths and nearly 1,000 gas-related injuries, and Gas Safety Week gives us an opportunity to reiterate the need for better safety measures in rental properties.

“Providing a Gas Safety Certificate to tenants is already a legal requirement for landlords, and provides peace of mind for tenants that the property and its appliances are safe. Renters shouldn’t be afraid to demand this document if they aren’t given it at the start of an agreement. It’s now time for the Government to make best practice legal, and enforce compulsory carbon monoxide alarms in every rented property. At the moment, they only need to be in rooms with solid fuel burning, but we should be doing all we can to protect tenants.”

Don’t forget to keep up with your gas safety requirements when Gas Safety Week finishes for another year!

The research was undertaken after Gas Safe Register inspection figures showed that 5 per cent of gas work from from recently qualified engineers is unsafe, up from 1 per cent, from the start of the contract.

The research consisted of in-depth interviews with newly qualified gas engineers, and included questions about the length of courses, theory and practical components in course content, assessments, industry placements and mentoring opportunities.

The research revealed that some interviewees were concerned that training had been too short, particularly for those with no prior experience. Concerns were also raised about the apparent willingness of some training establishments to keep training failing students until they passed the assessments, regardless of how many attempts were taken to gain the qualification – and with little apparent regard for the students’ ability to fulfil the essential competency requirements.

GISG and SMB chairman Chris Bielby says: “The GISG is shocked and disappointed by these research findings, as they highlight a fundamental flaw in the gas industry that ultimately could affect the safety of customers. We are specifically concerned about the discrepancy in course durations, the certifications of very short courses, the imbalance between theory and practical course content; and differences in pass and fail criteria between some training colleges.

“It is paramount that we as an industry work together to ensure high standards of gas engineer training and capability are upheld across the country. We call on the government and industry to undertake a review to establish minimum standards of training across all gas engineer training programmes.”

Ian McCluskey, head of Technical Services at IGEM, adds: “IGEM is concerned by the apparent lack of consistency in the standards of training in the industry. IGEM published IGEM/IG/1 Standards of training in gas work in 2014 and IGEM/IG/1 Supplement 1 Non-domestic training specification in 2016, covering requirements for new entrants which have not yet been implemented by the industry.”

Gas Safe Register’s Technical and Customer Services director Mark Rolfe adds: “Safe gas work depends on engineers having the correct skills and experience, and applying that competence in all the work they do – regardless of the route they have taken into the industry.

“Our focus and interest is on the quality and safety of that gas work and it is a concern for us that we are increasingly seeing work that fails to meet the required standards especially from those newly entering the industry and gaining registration. It is an issue we have raised repeatedly with the training and assessment sector and one that engineers have also raised with us through the Decade Review and other consultations we have undertaken.

“The role of the Register does not encompass training and assessment, but it is very much in our interest to see structures and processes put in place that will ensure that those who are presented to us as competent can actually do the job safely – and we will support industry in any way to help that happen.”

Around 1.1 million gas jobs are carried out every year by illegal fitters who aren’t properly qualified, putting householders at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks, fires and explosions, a government body has warned.

A study[i] by Gas Safe Register, the nation’s only official gas registration scheme, found that illegal gas fitters installed over 186,000 gas cookers, 147,000 boilers, 75,000 gas fires, 32,000 gas meters and 645,000 gas pipework over one year.

Gas Safe Register has a team searching out rogue fitters and has investigated almost 5,000 illegal gas jobs in recent years, finding that 3 in 5 were in an unsafe condition. A worrying 1 in 5 were deemed to be so dangerous that the appliance had to be disconnected immediately.

The team has found that three-quarters of victims had employed the tradesman based on the recommendation from a friend, family member or by other contractors. Just under 1 in 4 had found their fitter through an advert, wrongly assuming they were legal and registered. In no cases did the householder check the fitter’s credentials, despite it being a legal requirement for an engineer to be on the Gas Safe Register.     

Gas Safe Register research[ii] further found that 16% of people would trust an engineer if they said they were registered, rather than checking their ID card. The majority of people admit they are generally trusting of people and that when it comes to determining who to trust, the most common thing they look for include politeness, good eye contact and a nice smile.

The consequences of relying on an unregistered engineer can be deadly. Unsafe gas appliances can produce a highly poisonous gas called carbon monoxide (CO). Gas Safe Register research has found that around 1 in 5 people are unaware that carbon monoxide cannot be seen in a room, and 2 in 5 have no idea that the gas is odourless. According to the Health and Safety Executive in the past three years, 22 people have died and there have been nearly 1,000 injuries related to gas incidents.

Jonathan Samuel, chief executive at Gas Safe Register, said: “Far too many people are letting unregistered gas fitters into their home and putting their families at risk. We are urging people to trust the triangle. Look for the Gas Safe Register triangle on you gas engineer’s ID card - thousands of people already do - and make sure you’re getting your gas appliances checked every year.”

Max Schenker from the Wirral lost his brother, Robert Schenker aged 31, to carbon monoxide poisoning. Robert had an old chimney in his house which was quite weathered so he hired a builder to rebuild it. The chimney was connected to the flue pipe on Robert’s kitchen boiler and unbeknown to Robert, the builder dropped mortar down the chimney, blocking it.

After switching the boiler back on Robert complained of feeling unwell but had put it down to the few beers he’d drunk the night before. Feeling under the weather, Robert retired to bed, but was found dead by his girlfriend when he didn’t answer her calls.

The Health & Safety Executive inspected the scene as a matter of best practice because gas was suspected as the cause of death. Fresh mortar was detected in the chimney and when the inspectors tested the boiler, they found it took just seven minutes for carbon monoxide fumes to reach Robert’s bedroom after the system was switched on. The house was declared a crime scene and the case was handed over to the police.

The builder was convicted of manslaughter; receiving a 3.5 year prison sentence, reduced to 2.5 on appeal. Max, who has since taken over his brother’s business, said he was always aware that CO was a silent killer but hadn’t realised the extent of the danger.

Having experienced the devastating effects of CO first hand, Max comments:

“I would advise others to stop and think about the risks. Don’t cut corners and make doubly sure that any work being carried out on your house, especially if connected to your boiler, is carried out by a regulated builder or registered engineer.”

To keep you and your family safe, follow Gas Safe Register’s top tips:

• Only employ a legal Gas Safe registered engineer when having gas work carried out in your home. You can find a registered engineer in your area by calling Gas Safe Register on 0800 408 5500 or by visiting GasSafeRegister.co.uk
• Every registered gas engineer carries a Gas Safe ID card. Always ask to see the card and check their unique licence number with Gas Safe Register. The back of the card will also show which gas appliances they are qualified to work on.
• 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.
• If you suspect that someone is an illegal fitter or are worried about gas work carried out in your home, please contact Gas Safe Register.

For more information or to report illegal gas work, visit www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.

[i] Study commissioned by Gas Safe Register. Interviews with 575 individuals who advertised as undertaking work which might include gas fitting, conducted November 2014-February 2015.

[ii] Research carried out by Gas Safe Register. Interviews with 3,000 householders, conducted October 2014-March 2016.

JADDS has installed FireAngel smoke alarms that utilise the latest Thermoptek Multi-Sensor technology, as used by over 90% of the UK Fire & Rescue Services, for detection of both fast flaming and slow smouldering fires in a single alarm, as well as battery powered CO alarms, to provide detection of serious fire or CO incidents quicker.

In addition, Low Frequency Sounders and Strobe & Pads have also been installed to provide additional protection in the event of a serious incident to high-risk individuals, such as children. This is of particular importance to JADDS as a low frequency signal is more likely to wake up a child, whilst the flashing strobe and vibrating pad will be triggered to alert those who may not be able to hear the audible alarm.

All the alarms installed are wirelessly interlinked to create a network using FireAngels’ Wi-Safe 2 communication technology. In the event of any one single device being triggered, all other alarms in the network will sound with the same alarm pattern, making it easier to identify whether it is a fire or CO incident.

Adele Ross, Chair of JADDS, said: “Research has revealed that standard smoke alarms do not reliably wake children under the age of 16, which was particularly disturbing to me as part of the treatment for ADD is medication to help children sleep.

“Thankfully, by combining the use of FireAngel’s Low Frequency Sounder, Strobe & Pad, latest sensing technology and Wi-Safe 2 interlinking we can be assured that our fire and CO protection levels are of the highest standard.”

For more information on Sprue Safety Products, visit: www.sprue.com

Recent Freedom of Information requests have shown a near ten per cent rise in recorded incidents of suspected CO poisoning at NHS Trusts across the UK, with the young and elderly most affected. Worryingly, cases of CO poisoning in children were up by 20% and cases among the over 60s had increased by 17%.

The data obtained by Project SHOUT, a campaign group designed to raise awareness of the dangers of CO, measured recorded cases year-on-year from July 2014 to June 2016.

The total number of incidents topped 2,430 in 2015/16 (compared to 2,220 the previous year), with an average of six people attending A&E every single day with suspected CO poisoning. With a lack of understanding around the symptoms of CO poisoning, and its similarity to the symptoms of flu, these figures could be conservative.

Rob Lyon, campaign director for Project SHOUT, said: “These numbers are very concerning, particularly the rise in cases among the most vulnerable, namely children and the elderly. CO poisoning can only be detected by an alarm as you can’t see, smell or taste it. Children and older people are particularly at risk because their bodies are more susceptible and in the case of some older people, are less likely to keep their appliances serviced.”

In October 2015, legislation came into force that required private landlords to fit a CO alarm in every property that had a solid fuel burning appliance, such as an open fire or log burner. The legislation, however, does not cover gas appliances, such as a gas boiler or gas hob.

Approximately 50 people die each year from CO poisoning, all of which can be prevented by fitting an alarm.