Boshers support annual Gas Safety Week

Last Updated on September 10, 2014 by admin

Boshers are delighted to announce that we’re supporting Gas Safety Week (15^th – 21^st September)

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of the gas appliances in your home, holiday home or buy-to-let property.

It is co-ordinated by Gas Safe Register, the official list of gas engineers who are legally allowed to work on gas.

Why are we supporting Gas Safety Week?

• There were 219 reported gas safety incidents in the UK last year.
•  343 people suffered injuries as a result of those incidents.

10 people died from gas accidents in 2013, with nine of those related to carbon monoxide poisoning.

CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning is one of the most common causes of injury, accounting for nine of the 10 UK deaths in the past year.

As an invisible gas it can often be too late; the consequences of not being thorough and on top of gas safety in your holiday home can be fatal and tragic.

Checks for holiday home owners to complete at the end of the summer season 

• Check your CO alarm

This should be checked on a regular basis and the batteries replaced. This also applies to systems that are hard wired to your holiday home, which will in most circumstances have back up battery power.

Keep a log of when you change batteries and inspect the alarm for future reference.

• Where are your gas appliance instructions? 

Instructions to all gas appliances, including barbeques and your CO alarm, should be readily available and easy to find.  Ensure they’re still available for guests and that they are in a legible form and free from any damage incurred during the summer. 

• Get your appliances inspected by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer

Any gas boiler or other gas appliance in your holiday home should undergo a gas safety check by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer every year.

The Gas Safe Register is the official list of gas engineers who are qualified to work safely and legally on gas appliances. By law, all gas engineers must be on the Gas Safe Register, which replaced CORGI registration.

Before any gas work is carried out always check the engineers ID card and make sure the engineer is qualified for the work you need doing.

You can find a local registered engineer by visiting www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or by calling 0800 408 5500 and speaking to a Gas Safe advisor.

• Review the way you communicate gas safety with your guests

Holiday homeowners are perhaps in a unique position, where they often live away from their property but have people regularly inhabiting their home and using their gas appliances.

Remember that the appliances in your holiday property will likely to be different to those that your visitors use in their own home. This means communication on how to use them safely is vital.

Be proactive; resolve any issues that have arisen from your procedures but don’t wait for incidents to happen. Always look to improve the way you communicate gas safety with your guests.

• Ensure future checks are in place

The summer is an incredibly busy time for our property owners. With bookings, arrivals, change-overs and a multitude of other tasks on the to-do list things can fall through the cracks as there’s not enough hours in the day.

Make sure that you schedule your gas checks now to ensure they’re still a priority when things get busy.

We hope that you and your guests enjoyed a very good summer season and are already looking forward to the next!

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.

*Please note that the list included within this article is not exhaustive.