Many catering premises throughout Stratford District use gas for heating or cooking. When safely installed, regularly maintained and used properly, gas installations and appliances pose few risks. However, if gas is not managed properly, the risk of fire, an explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning is greatly increased.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council is working in partnership with the Health and Safety Executive to check that the gas installations in catering premises are safe, and that tradesmen installing, servicing and certifying them are appropriately qualified and registered with the Gas Safe Register.
District Council officers will be checking when the companies gas appliances were last serviced and who carried out the work, and advising owners and managers about recent changes to the gas installer registration scheme.
The purpose of the project is to reduce the risk of incidents or fatalities associated with the poor management of, or neglect of, gas safety issues. Officers are targeting people who may be doing unsafe work on gas appliances, following a recent prosecution of a Warwick engineer who was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £20,632 at Rugby Magistrates Court in July 2009.
Relevant businesses inspected for compliance with food safety and health and safety legislation during September will have stringent checks carried out by the Councils officers to ensure that their gas installations have been correctly installed and certified as safe by a properly registered fitter.
Where it comes to light that fitters are working on gas installations without the correct qualifications and registration, Council officers will work with the HSE to ensure these fitters are dealt with appropriately. Advice will be given to businesses on gas safety issues, and enforcement action will be taken where appropriate to resolve any safety issues noted during the inspection.
"Many businesses, particularly those in the hospitality and catering sectors, rely on the use of gas in order to provide valuable services for all of us. It makes sound business sense, therefore, to ensure that these gas systems are maintained in an efficient and safe manner. Gas is generally a very safe fuel, but it should be treated with respect," says Robert Weeks, Head of Environment.
"This partnership working is all about promoting gas safety in the workplace. Its purpose is to inform employers who use gas of their duties under health and safety legislation. In addition to providing advice and guidance officers will be inspecting premises to ensure that no one is placed at undue risk from poorly maintained gas systems in the workplace."
- The Gas Safe Register replaced CORGI as the official gas safety body in April 1st 2009.
- Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended, states: 'No employer shall allow any of his employees to carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or service pipework and no self-employed person shall carry out any such work, unless the employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, is a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of this paragraph.'
- HSE and Local Authorities are responsible for regulating domestic gas safety in Great Britain, largely through the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
- Gas engineers undertaking gas work must be registered with a body approved by HSE. The only body currently approved is the Gas Safe Register. For further information about the gas registration scheme, go to www.gassaferegister.co.uk.
- For further information on gas safety, contact the HSE Gas Safety Advice Line 0800 300 363 or visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic
