Safety first - check gas and electrical appliances before the end of summer

Homeowners are being urged to check their gas and electrical appliances over the summer months after a survey revealed a basic lack of safety knowledge among property owners.

New research reveals that 66 per cent of homes in the UK have defective gas appliances and 40 per cent of smoke alarms do not work.

Gas Safe Register, the official gas registration organisation for the UK, says almost a fifth of households do not have their gas appliances legally checked, meaning as many as 12 million people could be living with dangerous appliances.

Shockingly, as many as 50 per cent of all appliances in the lounge were deemed either at risk or immediately dangerous when audited by the Gas Safe Register.

Carbon monoxide poisoning in the home accounts for 50 recorded deaths per year, and as many as 4,000 medical visits, according to the Department of Health.

There are also over 1.1 million illegal gas installations carried out each year – putting the lives of millions of people at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, gas leaks, fires and explosions.

RegTech company Gas Tag, which is revolutionising safety in the gas industry, said the summer months are the perfect time of the year to check appliances in the home, helping to reduce the number of gas-related incidents during the winter period.

Gas Tag, a company behind technology that ensures the highest standards of gas safety compliance and combats the scourge of illegal fitters, says it is vital any inspections are carried out only by Gas Safe registered engineers.

Stephen Ullathorne, co-CEO of Gas Tag, said: “It remains far too easy for illegal gas fitters to either carry out or, worst case scenario, pretend to carry out work on gas appliances.

“Surely, in 2018, it should be totally unacceptable that people are being put at risk of injury or death as a result of shoddy or non-existent work.”

Worryingly, one in five people who employ a tradesperson to work on a gas appliance do not check their ID card or qualifications.

Gas Tag’s system has been described as ‘the most significant quantum leap in domestic gas safety compliance in 20 years’.