Proving that it’s not just householders that are coming up short when servicing their gas boilers is news that a hospital in northern Devon has had a boiler fire due to lack of servicing.

The revelations that the gas boiler, which powers the hospital’s heating system, had not been properly maintained came from a former maintenance worker at a tribunal at Exeter. As well as the hospital boiler, he also claimed a number of health and safety issues which he had brought to light were ignored.

He stated that the boiler’s logbook had been falsified, raising doubts as to whether the boiler had indeed been annually serviced as was required.

The tribunal heard that gas boilers should be serviced once a year by approved gas engineers. And that all gas engineers needed to be on the Gas Safe Register. This had taken over from The Corgi registration process which used to oversee gas engineers.

The register should make it easier to find a serviced engineer. More details are available at www.gassaferegister.co.uk, or telephone 0800 408 5500.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Landlords are continuing to find themselves in hot water when it comes to trying to service their own gas boilers.

Another landlord, this one living in Colchester, has fallen foul of The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and has been fined a total of £11,300 by Colchester Magistrates Court for five breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998. He was also ordered to pay costs of £8,700.

The charges were brought after the landlord fiddled around with gas boilers in his own rented properties. Two of the charges concerned carrying out work on a gas boiler whilst not competent to do so. In other words, the landlord was not a qualified gas engineer who was not, legally, able to service, or repair a gas device.

This has been the law for years and the Gas Safety Register, run by The Health and Safety Executive HSE, is now the official body which controls a list of qualified engineers and their status, and training. It took over from the CORGI gas registration process on 1st April 2009. The register should make it easier to find a qualified service engineer and more details are available at www.gassaferegister.co.uk, or telephone 0800 408 5500.

The landlord was also found guilty over not making sure a boiler was kept in a safe condition, for not keeping records of any safety checks and not providing for a tenant a safety check record.

An HSE Inspector, Mr Matthew Tackling, said: “The HSE will not hesitate to prosecute landlords who fail to take their responsibilities for safety to their tenants seriously and to follow up on those who fail to co-operate with any investigation or fail to appear in court.”

The HSE has once again issued a reminder to landlords and property developers to bear in mind that although there is currently an economic recession, they should not forget their commitments and responsibilities as regards gas devices.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Over 25% of the U.K. gas supplies might end up being brought in by ship at two specially adapted ports at Milford Haven, Wales.

The British Government has agreed to buy gas from Qatar for an initial contract period of 25 years.

As North Sea reserves run out, gas brought over from the Middle East in special giant tankers is now seen as a way of maintaining crucial supplies and making the U.K. less reliant on volatile East European supplies.

And it’s all been made possible by a technology which super cools the gas into a liquid, called liquefied natural gas (LNG). This can then be transported in commercially viable quantities in tankers. Gas in it’s natural state would take up far more space than as a liquid, making it too expensive to tanker across thousands of miles.

In an investment worth some £13 billion, the two new special LNG terminals at Milford Haven include special LNG plants, and storage and docking facilities.

Ironically, the first ship bringing in the gas, The Tembek, was met by protesters who have campaigned against the idea for years. They claim that not only is LNG highly dangerous if there was a leak, but that the shipping lane approach to Milford Haven is just too narrow to safely handle a vessel of The Tembek’s size. They fear a catastrophe along the lines of Buncefield (when an oil storage depot literally exploded in 2005).

The Tembek had to wait for the tide so it could berth at the new South Hook terminal. The larger of the two new ports, it was built as a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobile and Total.

The second terminal is expected to become operational later in 2009 and this was built in a partnership between Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas, British Gas and the Netherland’s based 4Gas.

Once the gas has been offloaded and stored at the two ports, it will then be heated up and returned to its natural state, and then pumped long a new pipeline running from the ports to Gloucestershire.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

There’s no excuse now, even for those who thought the CORGI register was a dog breeders’ club.

On 1 April, 2009 (not a good choice of date really), the Gas Safe Register will take the place of the CORGI gas registration process as the official stamp for gas safety.

Behind the Gas Safe Register are The Health and Safety Executive who will now be responsible for regulating gas safety in Great Britain. The CORGI registration will remain in force in Northern Ireland and Isle of Man.

And from 1 April, 2009, only Gas Safe Register engineers will be able to carry out work on gas boilers and appliances. The idea is to make the new register provide enhanced levels of service and benefits, improving the overall scheme and promoting gas safety.

Furthermore the register should make it easier to find a serviced engineer. More details are available at www.gassaferegister.co.uk, or telephone 0800 408 5500.

So, there’s no excuse now. Remember, only a person registered with the Gas Safe Register can service, or work on a gas appliance, and that includes a cooker, as well as a central heating boiler. DIY jobs on gas appliances are not allowed, full stop. And for those masquerading as gas safe registered engineers, as well as those who mistakenly think they can work on a gas appliance, stiff penalties will be enforced by the HSE.

Because one of the main objectives of the Gas Safe Register is to make people realise that their own lives, as well as their families, could be at risk by work being carried out by non-trained personnel.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

An update to our earlier story – Landlord Faces Jail Over Gas Boilers – sees a Great Yarmouth landlord banged up for his refusal to comply with health and safety orders to make his gas boilers safe.

After being already fined nearly £25,000 for previous health and safety offences for other flats he owned, he had consistently refused to have checks carried out by registered engineers on his remaining two properties. The 34-year-old has been jailed for 12 weeks by Yarmouth Magistrates Court.

In mitigation, his solicitor claims his client is suffering from the economic downturn and says that the although the tests have now been carried out on the properties, he cannot afford to pay the engineer who would then release the certificates.

The Health and Safety Executive, who brought the case against the landlord, believes the man’s fate is a lesson for all landlords and that they should take their responsibilities seriously, otherwise they will end up in trouble.

Guest Article by Neil Camp