Here at JT Atkinson we are supporting Gas Safety Week by releasing a new video which focuses on how to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
This is one of several risks associated with the use of domestic gas appliances and Gas Safety Week, which runs between September 15 and September 21, 2014, aims to raise awareness of the issues in a bid to improve safety for the residents of Britain’s 23 million gas-fuelled households.
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Top Safety Tips
So what can you do to stay safe if you have gas appliances in your home? It is vital that you have safety checks carried out once a year and have your appliances serviced regularly. This work, and any other repairs or modifications, should only be carried out by a Gas Safe-registered engineer.
When your chosen engineer comes to your home, check his Gas Safe identification card to make sure that he is suitably qualified. If he does not have one, send him away. If you discover a gas engineer working who is not registered, report him to the Gas Safe Register by calling 0800 408 5500, as what he is doing is against the law. Even if he does have a card, make sure that you read the back to check that he is actually qualified to do the specific job you need him to carry out.
Increase Your Understanding
One of the first steps to staying safe is to understand the risks. These include carbon monoxide poisoning, leaks, explosions and fires. It is also important to know the signs to look for that which will tell you that an appliance is not working as it should. These include hobs which have lazy yellow flames rather than crisp blue ones, an increase in condensation in a room and black stains appearing around appliances.
Only use appliances for the jobs they were originally designed to do. For example, do not try to heat a room using a gas oven, and never use a gas-fuelled barbeque indoors. Ensure you have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home and know the signs that the batteries are running low. Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless gas, and it can kill if left undetected.
Make sure that your appliances have adequate ventilation, which will help to keep them burning correctly, and ensure that you have not blocked any of the air vents which have been placed around your home so that your appliances get the air supply they need.
Find Out More
This newly released video urges everyone to ensure that they have fully operational carbon monoxide detectors in their home. Ideally, there should be one for every fuel-burning appliance, such as hobs, water heaters, log burners and boilers, and these should be placed between one and three metres away from each appliance. The video explains how to check that an alarm is working properly and describes what to do if carbon monoxide is detected, along with highlighting some warning signs to look out for that could indicate a problem with your appliances.