HSE warns unregistered gas engineers after Warwickshire prosecution

Date:

16 July 2009

Release No:

HSE/WM/274/2009

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning gas engineers of the significant costs of failing to register with the Gas Safe Register following the prosecution an unregistered gas engineer from Warwick.

Gordon Connolly was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,632 at Rugby Magistrates Court on 15 July 2009. Mr Connolly was found guilty of two charges under Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 of carrying out work as a gas engineer while not a member of the approved gas registration body.

The Court heard that in January of 2006 Mr Connolly was served by HSE with an Improvement Notice requiring him to either become registered or stop undertaking gas work. However, he carried on working and was eventually caught when council officials spotted problems with gas safety certificates issued by the defendant after he had completed some gas work.

Mr Neil Craig, HSE Principal Inspector, said after the trial:

"We'd been pursuing Mr Connolly regarding his illegal activities for some time and gave him ample opportunity to become compliant. But he flagrantly chose to ignore our warnings and the law - and this result should serve as a warning to others.

"We're grateful to the Ian Jackson, Housing Officer at Warwick District Council, who in June 2007 spotted anomalies on the Gas Safety Certificates of two properties in the Council's rent deposit scheme and contacted HSE. The certificates had been completed by Mr Connolly and further checks revealed that he was still not legally registered, so we initiated legal proceedings.

"This is good example of regulators working together to root out rogue gas engineers who, without the competency checks that come through registration, unnecessarily put people's lives at risk."

Notes to editors

1. 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."
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. For further information on gas safety, contact the HSE Gas Safety Advice Line 0800 300 363 or visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News and PR West Midlands.