Keeping council tenants 100% gas compliant safe
It’s Gas Safety Week from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 September 2024. This is a nationwide initiative dedicated to one common goal: keeping everyone safe from gas-related hazards.
This Gas Safety Week, we are celebrating 13 consecutive years of 100% gas safety compliance across 8,109 properties. This is thanks to our partnership with Aston Group, who service our domestic and commercial gas appliances.
We recently caught up with Andy Scott, a Gas Engineer from Aston Group, who guides us through what he does on a gas safety check.
Maintaining gas safety is vital to ensuring the safety of our tenants and properties. But achieving 100% gas safety compliance is no easy feat, particularly when there’s such a large number of properties involved. Aston Group and the council both remain committed to maintaining the 100% safety record, working collaboratively to keep full compliance, which is an essential part of the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
For this year’s Gas Safety Week, Aston Group’s engineers have shared some top tips to help everyone stay gas safe:
- Check that you’ve had an annual gas safety check. Gas appliances should be safety checked once a year and serviced regularly by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you live in a rented property, make sure your landlord arranges this.
- Check your engineer is Gas Safe registered. Always use a Gas Safe registered engineer and ensure they’re qualified for the work that needs doing via the Gas Safe Register website and the engineer’s ID card.
- Check your carbon monoxide (CO) alarm. Regular testing ensures that alarms are working correctly and will alert you to the presence of deadly CO.
- Recognise the six signs of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapse and loss of consciousness.
- Check for warning signs that could indicate your gas appliances are not working correctly. Signs may include lazy yellow/orange flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks on or around the appliance, a pilot light that keeps going out, too much condensation in the room, or error messages on the appliance’s control panel.
- Keep vents and chimneys clear.
- Only use gas appliances for their intended purpose.
- Familiarise yourself with the emergency procedure should you smell or suspect gas. For emergencies, please call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
- Spread the word. Encourage your friends, family and loved ones to follow gas safety advice.