Rules & Regulations

Gas Safety

Gas safety

Gas kills. Each year there are workplace and domestic accidents that could have been prevented, causing death and injury through faulty equipment, ill maintained flues and pipes and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) covers general gas use, and there are further laws relating to gas appliances - see below.

Your obligations as a business

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) occupiers of buildings - whether employers or self-employed - have a duty to maintain gas equipment (including second hand equipment) and accessories safely. This includes LPG appliances and also boilers, heaters, cookers, patio heaters and any other gas equipment, flues or pipes and safety equipment.
This is not something you can do yourself. It almost certainly means an annual inspection and test of equipment by a Corgi Registered Gas Engineer - click here to find one near you. You should keep records of the checks made and keep the paperwork safe for at least two years.
In addition:

• Installation of gas equipment (including second hand equipment) must only be done by a Corgi registered gas engineer (and certainly not by anyone for whom this is not their business, eg a friend or acquaintance on a DIY basis - this is illegal and dangerous)
• You must not use, or allow to be used, a gas appliance you know or suspect may be faulty
• With the exception of 'room-sealed' appliances, there are restrictions on the installation of gas appliances in sleeping areas fitted after 1 January 1996

Hospitality and catering industry obligations

If you provide any of the following: serviced, self-catering or any other kind of sleeping accommodation (including boats, caravans, etc), communal kitchens, or staff accommodation you have explicit obligations to have an annual inspection and test of all your gas equipment by a Corgi registered gas engineer. This includes LPG appliances. You must display your inspection and test report because you have a legal duty to provide it to your 'tenants' however transient they may be. If you have tenants for more than 28 days you must give them a copy of the inspection and test report.

You should also supply guests with information about how to safely use the equipment and what to do in the event that equipment fails or they think it is unsafe.

Letting agents and business premises landlords

If you have a self-catering property and this is managed by a letting agency you must establish between you who is responsible for gas (and other) safety. If the agent only handles marketing and bookings, as opposed to full management, it is likely that you will need to undertake your own gas safety responsibilities.

If you rent your premises from a business landlord check your lease to see who is responsible for gas safety - though you still have an employers obligation to your staff. If it is a shared building, with communal elements, then the landlord has responsibility for any gas or heating appliances for these parts.

Training in the use and routine testing of gas appliances

What's more, if you employ staff that use gas equipment - cookers, heaters, tumble driers etc - they must be trained not only in the proper use of the equipment, but also in how to do daily, common-sense inspections to ensure it is working correctly. This includes observing the colour of any flame, smelling the surrounding area, checking that pipes and flues aren't worn or damaged, ensuring there are no missing restraints or connectors and so on. All staff who use gas appliances must be properly trained.

Moving or unplugging gas appliances

Portable appliances, those with a plug-in connector and those with hoses and connectors designed to be easily disconnected and changed (such as patio heaters and LPG cabinet heaters) can be unplugged and moved by non-Corgi registered staff, provided they have had training (at least from you) on how to correctly do this. However the initial installation of any non-portable devices with connectors like these must be done by a Corgi registered installer.

Catering kitchens

Catering kitchens are subject to a wide range of health and safety regulations and there are specific rules relating to gas appliances and ventilation. The Health and Safety Executive produce a number of guides including Gas Safety in Hospitality and Catering. Visit the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk for more.

Other gas and heater regulations

There are a number of other gas regulations that may apply to your business

Gas Appliances (Safety) Regulations 1995
These Regulations require that all new gas appliances must be safe and come with instructions when sold.

Gas Cooking Appliances (Safety) Regulations 1989
These apply to used gas cookers. They must:

• have legible and durable markings on the controls and be marked with the manufacturer's or importer's name
• have adequate pan supports
• have tap handles which are easy to operate, but not liable to be turned on accidentally
• ignite promptly
• have oven doors which seal in hot gases
• have instructions for safe use

They must not have:

• sharp edges
• a casing that gets hot enough to cause injury

Any hob cover must shut off the gas supply, or the cover must have a warning label stating that it does not.

The Heating Appliances (Fireguards) (Safety) Regulations 1991
Fireguards on gas fires and oil heaters must comply with British Standards or the European equivalent.

Oil heaters & used gas fires, which do not satisfy specific design criteria involving the hearth and installation instructions, must be fitted with a guard which:

• does not permit a 35mm diameter probe to touch the heated radiants or the flame, or
• has no gap larger than 150mm x 35mm, and no gap with a diameter larger than 154mm,

unless it is not possible to pass a 12mm diameter probe through the gap, or the gap between vertical rods is no greater than 5mm apart. The guard must pass certain strength tests.

The Gas Catalytic Heaters (Safety) Regulations 1984
These Regulations prohibit the supply of these heaters that contain unbonded asbestos.

Oil Heaters (Safety) Regulations 1977
These Regulations apply to paraffin heaters. There are controls that cover stability, flame extinction and labelling.

Further information and guidance

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm
The Health and Safety Executive provide a comprehensive section on gas. A list of their free leaflets is below. They also have useful paid-for literature to order.

Health and Safety Executive Free leaflets

• Gas Appliances - Get them checked. Keep them safe INDG238 [90KB]
• Landlords: A guide to landlord's dutiesINDG285 [90KB]
• Leaflets in other languages
• Checking LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) pipework - Industrial and commercial user responsibilities [151KB]

HSE Information sheets

• Precautions at manually ignited gas-fired catering equipment CAIS3 [25KB]
• Gas safety in catering and hospitality CAIS23 [79KB]
• Ventilation of kitchens in catering establishments CAIS10 [42KB]
• Maintenance priorities in catering CAIS12 [39KB]
• Planning for health and safety when selecting and using catering equipment and workplaces CAIS9 [32KB]
• Precautions at manually ignited gas-fired catering equipment CAIS3 [25KB]