Public safety top priority for new Gas Safe Register
2 February 2009
On 1 April 2009, the new Gas Safe Register™ replaces the
CORGI gas registration scheme as Great Britain's gas safety authority.
By law, from 1 April, only Gas Safe registered engineers should be employed to carry
out work on gas installations or appliances, CORGI gas registration will not be valid. The 120,000 engineers currently verified
under the CORGI scheme are now registering with Gas Safe Register so they can continue to work legally from April.
Keeping the public safe is Gas Safe Register's top priority. If someone other than a Gas Safe registered
engineer carries out gas work at your home, you could be risking the safety of your family and your property.
Finding
a Gas Safe registered engineer will be simple. From 1 April, you will be able to find an engineer in your area online at or
by calling 0800 408 5500.
Registered engineers will be identified with the
new yellow Gas Safe Register logo, and every engineer will carry a Gas Safe Register ID card with their own unique licence
number.
The message from Gas Safe Register is clear. Before you have any gas
work done in your home, make sure you check the card.
The primary aim of Gas Safe Register is to help
make Great Britain gas safe. The new scheme will work to improve consumer awareness of gas safety issues and target unregistered
installers.
Incorrectly fitted, badly repaired or poorly maintained gas appliances
are a major cause of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. They can also lead to gas leaks and explosions. On average over 25 people
a year die from CO poisoning, and many more suffer health problems from CO exposure directly related to gas. Around 40 people
a year are killed or injured in gas explosions. (Source:
HSE Gas Safety Statistics)
Said Ann Robinson, Gas Safe
Register's director of public awareness:
"Gas safety is a life or death matter that affects the entire nation.
As the new hallmark for gas safety in Great Britain from 1 April, Gas Safe Register will raise public awareness of the dangers
of using unregistered installers and explain how easy it is to avoid them by always using a registered engineer."
Ann Robinson continued:
"We will be encouraging consumers to make
sure their work is carried out competently and safely by always asking to see a Gas Safe registered engineer's ID card.
If they are at all suspicious that a trader offering gas services is unregistered, they can prevent lives from being endangered
by reporting the individual to the Gas Safe Register and we will work with the Health and Safety Executive and trading standards
to investigate and take action against those trading illegally."
