It’s Gas Safety Week, here’s a short video we’ve made of nine easy to follow tips to help you keep your home and family safe.
Gas leaks can cause explosions and less dramatically but just as dangerous, poorly functioning gas appliances can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. This can cause nasty headaches, sickness and even death.
Please act on these tips.
1. Know where your Gas Meter is:
It could be near your front door, in a cellar or outside in a white box – if it is outside you’ll need a special key to get into it. They’re yellow plastic.
2. Make sure you know how to turn your meter off
If there’s leak you won’t be able to use electric light to do this, so practise before you do need to do it! Put a torch somewhere handy and make sure it works.
3. Loosen the lever
The off/on lever may be stiff; loosen it by spraying with WD40 and check it every few months.
4. Don’t switch lights on or off!
This can cause sparks which might ignite any gas that’s leaked. Use your torch instead.
5. Don’t smoke or use naked flames of any kind if you suspect a leak.
6. Do not use E-Cigarettes or Vape
These spark and could cause an explosion if there is a gas leak.
7. Open doors and windows
If you think there may be a leak, open doors and windows, turn off your gas at the meter and call a registered Gas Safe engineer.
8. Have your gas appliances serviced regularly by a registered Gas Safe engineer
If they don’t burn cleanly they can create carbon monoxide which is POISONOUS. You and your family could experience headaches and sickness at best and die at worst. Carbon monoxide has no smell and is invisible.
Fit a carbon monoxide alarm and make sure the batteries are full.
9. Have the phone number of a local, trustworthy Gas Safe engineer handy
Store it in your phone.
