Plumber and mobile home park fined as residents left at risk

Date:

26 March 2010

An Essex plumber has been prosecuted for carrying out substandard and illegal work at a mobile home park, exposing residents to serious risk.

Harlow Magistrates' Court heard today how Michael O'Sullivan laid gas pipes underneath a property without ensuring there was proper ventilation.

The pipes passed through a brick base, which the mobile home sat upon, and the lack of ventilation meant any gas leak could have accumulated underneath the home and formed a deadly mixture.

Mr O'Sullivan was fined £1,000 with £500 costs and Sines Parks Ltd, the park management company which hired him to do the work, was also fined £2,500 with £2,000 costs.

Speaking after the case, HSE Inspector Steve Hook said:

"If one of these pipes had leaked gas underneath the mobile home, it could have seriously endangered people's lives. It was extremely fortunate the poor workmanship was discovered before it was too late."

Worried residents at the mobile home site in Breach Barns in Galley Hill, Waltham Abbey contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in early 2009 after discovering unsafe fittings on cylinders of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) used for heating and cooking.

Sines Parks Ltd, which owns and runs the park, had previously commissioned Mr O'Sullivan to carry out work on various gas fittings and pipes at the site.

Mr O'Sullivan was not registered to work on gas equipment and his work was found to be unsafe by HSE gas specialists investigating the complaints. HSE issued the self-employed plumber with an immediate prohibition notice, banning him from carrying out any further gas work until he was qualified and registered. HSE also warned all residents about his work.

At court today, Michael O'Sullivan, of Tillingham Court, Winter Way, Waltham Abbey, admitted breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

Sines Parks Ltd, of College Road, Harrow, admitted breaching Regulation 4 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The company had a duty to check that Mr O'Sullivan was registered.

The company owns 13 parks in the region. Residents own their own mobile home but Sines Parks Ltd retains ownership of the land and manages the utilities.

Inspector Steve Hook added:

"There is a reason the HSE operates the Gas Safe Register - working with gas appliances is difficult, specialised and potentially dangerous. Getting it wrong can cost lives.

"It is illegal for an unregistered person to carry out such work. When unqualified workers try to bypass the law in this way they are not only putting themselves at risk of prosecution and a large fine, they are also putting people's lives at risk.

"Companies also have a legal obligation to ensure anyone commissioned to work on gas equipment is legally qualified to do the job. It is easy to check if someone is registered with the Gas Safe Register and there is no excuse for failing to make that check."

Notes to editors

1. Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
2. Regulation 3(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 states: "No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so."
3. Regulation 4 of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 states: "Where an employer or self-employed person requires work in relation to a gas fitting to be carried out at any place of work under his control or where an employer or self-employed person has control to any extent of work in relation to a gas fitting, he shall take reasonable steps to ensure that the person undertaking that work is, or is employed by, a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive."
4. Anyone carrying out work on gas installations and appliances must be on the Gas Safe Register. The Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas register on 1 April 2009.
5. Please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm for more information about gas safety specifically.

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