Essex fireplace fitters fined after gas leak

Date:

30 August 2012

Release No:

HSE-E-75

An Essex fireplace installation company has been fined after their inadequate work on domestic gas pipes put a family's life at risk in their own home.

Fireplaces by Heals, of London Rd, Leigh-on-Sea, was commissioned to install a new fireplace at a home in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex, on 28 February 2011. Due to a shortage of staff, the company's retired director, Les Heal, was sent out to prepare the area for the fitting of the new fireplace. He removed a section of gas pipe that was protruding through the floor and carpet and then capped the pipe underneath the floorboards with a compression joint.

When the householder got home from work at 5am after a night shift, he immediately smelt a strong gas odour throughout the house including in the main bedroom, where his wife was sleeping.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the joint had been capped with an inadequate fitting and in an inaccessible place, which is contrary to British standards and potentially dangerous.

Southend Magistrates' Court was told today (30 August) that Fireplaces by Heals had failed to use a competent and Gas Safe registered engineer to ensure that the work carried out on the property had been properly completed, therefore putting lives at risk.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Edward Crick said:

"Fireplaces by Heals knew that work on a gas pipe needed to be done at this property. They failed to ensure it was done by a Gas-Safe registered engineer on this occasion, despite using registered engineers on a regular basis.

"This failure resulted in a significant gas leak at the householder's property and it is only a matter of luck that there was no serious damage or injuries as a result.

"HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those who put lives at risk in this way."

Paul Johnston, chief executive of Gas Safe Register added:

"A quarter of a million illegal gas jobs are carried out every year by people who don't have the skills or the qualifications to work safely with gas. It's therefore vital that people always make sure the person working on their gas appliances is on the Gas Safe Register. If they don't, they could be putting their family's lives and homes at risk from gas fires, explosions, leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning.

"You can check if your engineer is legal and safe to work with gas by asking for the Gas Safe ID card. You can also check the engineer's identification number by calling us on 0800 408 5500, or visiting the website www.gassaferegister.co.uk."

Fireplaces by Heals was found guilty of breaching Regulations 3(2) and 4 of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998, and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs.

More information about gas safety is available on HSE's website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Regulation 3(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 states: "The employer of any person carrying out such work for that employer, every other employer and self-employed person who has control to any extent of such work and every employer and self-employed person who has required such work to be carried out at any place of work under his control shall ensure that paragraph (1) above is complied with in relation to such work."
   Paragraph 1 states that "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 any work in relation to a gas fitting to be carried out 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. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."
5. More information about British Standard BS 6891:2005+A2:2008: Installation of low pressure gas pipework of up to 35mm (R1 1/4) in domestic premises (2nd family gas), can be found online at www.bsi-global.com.
6. Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause fires, explosions, gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning - always use a Gas Safe registered engineer to fit, fix and service gas appliances.
   To find or check a Gas Safe Registered engineer in your area, go to www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.
7. Gas Safe Register is the Government approved registration scheme for gas engineers in the UK, Isle of Man and Guernsey. The register of 126,000 gas engineers, aims to protect 21 million gas consumers from dangerous gas work. It is a legal requirement for any gas engineering business or self employed gas engineer carrying out domestic or commercial gas work to be registered under the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998.
8. Please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/press.htm for all press releases from HSE.

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