Each year it is estimated that upto 60 deaths are caused by accidental carbon monoxide poisoning throughout the UK, and with it having no taste or smell it can kill if exposed to high levels from gas leaks in the home. Gas safety week is important as it raises awareness of the hazards that gas creates.
Organisations from around the country come together to make landlords and agents aware of responsibilities to those they house. When gas safety legal responsibilities are ignored or not adhered to, consequences are severe not just in potential life hazards to tenants.
In March of 2020, one landlord found himself sentenced to 36 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty at breaching Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as well as Section 21 of the Health and Safety at Work. His ignorance cost him also financially to the tune of almost £6.5k.
This was not an isolated incident, as an agency also found themselves fined after failing to adhere to issued improvement notices after HSE became aware that properties they managed had no gas safety record and repeated attempts to contact the agency resulted in no response for action. The ignorance of the agency cost them a fine of £2k and additional costs. The Agency had plenty of time to correct the issues but chose to ignore any compliance.
New data released from the Gas Safe register has revealed that 1 in every 5 homes has a potentially dangerous gas appliance that can cause the Ripple Effect impacting the entire community. With these services left unserviced and unchecked year on year, life-threatening risks are a higher potential as well as the potential of disconnection of gas supplies to communities should an incident occur.
With higher percentages of people in today’s climate not confident in being able to identify potential life-threatening gas leaks due to knowledge gaps. This has also lead to an interest in individuals expressing interest in gas training North West to fill a gap in career as well as become fully aware of gas safety procedures and regulations.
If you have interest in gas courses to be able to benefit communities and those in the rental sector, contact ECTA to begin a journey dedicated to safety and compliance.