South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
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South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue supports Gas Safety Week

We are proud to be supporting Gas Safety Week 2024, taking place 9th-15th September.

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of your gas appliances. It is coordinated by Gas Safe Register, the official list of gas engineers who are legally allowed to work on gas.

The theme for 2024 is Checking—Every Check Counts; from getting an annual gas safety check, checking your engineer is Gas Safe registered and qualified for the work, to checking that you know what to do in a gas emergency, every check (no matter how big or small) helps to keep you gas safe.

Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions, and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. CO is a highly poisonous gas that can kill quickly and without warning, as you cannot see it, taste it, or smell it.

Here is a guide to some simple checks that you can do at home to stay gas safe:

  • Check you have a current landlord gas safety record. By law, your landlord must keep gas pipework, flues and appliances supplied for you to use in good condition. They must arrange a gas safety check of the appliances and flues every year and give you a record of the check within 28 days. If your landlord refuses to provide you with one, you can report their details to the HSE: https://bit.ly/LGSRReport1
  • Check any gas appliances that you own have been safety checked annually. Your landlord is not responsible for gas appliances that you own, so you should arrange for these to be safety checked once a year and serviced regularly by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
  • Check the engineer is Gas Safe registered. Anyone who comes to work on the gas appliances, pipework or flues must be Gas Safe registered and appropriately qualified for the type of gas work you need doing. You can find this information on the back of their Gas Safe ID card and on the Gas Safe Register website.
  • Check gas appliances for any warning signs. Signs may include lazy yellow/orange flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks on or around the appliance, a pilot light that keeps going out, too much condensation in the room, or error messages on the appliance’s control panel. If you spot any of these signs contact your landlord, or, if you own the appliance, contact a Gas Safe registered engineer.
  • Check your knowledge. Remember the six main symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, collapse, and loss of consciousness. If you suspect CO, get into fresh air immediately and call the gas emergency services for your area.
  • Check the carbon monoxide alarm. A carbon monoxide alarm is required to be fitted in every habitable room of a rental property containing gas appliances (excluding appliances used for cooking purposes). They should be marked EN50291 and display the British Standards’ Kitemark. It’s a good idea to regularly test these to ensure they’re still working.
  • Check that vents or flues are not blocked. Vents and flues are there to ensure the gas appliances work safely. Blocking them could prevent this.

How to keep you business gas safe

For gas safety advice and to find or check an engineer visit the Gas Safe Register website at GasSafeRegister.co.uk. Alternatively, call the free helpline on 0800 408 5500.

Sheffield firms fined £4,000 for breaching fire safety regulations

Two Sheffield businesses have been ordered to pay £4,000 after each failing to provide documents and information to business fire safety inspectors.

Brightside Motors LTD and Brightside Motors Repair Centre LTD received the fine at a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Wednesday 31 July after the firms, both based on 90 Holywell Road, Sheffield, failed to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The Court ordered they pay a fine of £2,500, cover prosecution costs of £569 and pay a victim’s surcharge of £1,000, totalling £4,069 each.

The case was proved in absence as no representatives from either company attended the hearing.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Business Fire Safety Inspecting Officers visited the company after a fire on the premises on 21 April 2023.

An enforcement notice was put in place after it was determined that the business had not been complying with a previously agreed fire safety plan.

The enforcement notice was also not followed which triggered an additional investigation and request for information and documentation about who is the responsible person at the property.

No documentation or information was received, resulting in court summons.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Andy Strelczenie, said: “Fire Safety is a core function of the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, our aim is always to work with businesses to ensure they can keep people safe, but it needs to be a two-way process.

“In this case, we have had little to no engagement from the company involved, despite multiple requests to improve and share information with us. This has ultimately resulted in this fine being issued.”

Fire service marks new law anniversary with high-rise residential buildings plea

The fire service is calling on those responsible for South Yorkshire’s high-rise residential buildings to get in touch, a year after new regulations came into force.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue says barely more than one in 10 owners or managers of the relevant buildings have supplied it with information they are now legally responsible for providing.

The law requires people responsible for buildings of 18m in height, or at least seven storeys, containing two or more domestic dwellings, to provide information to fire and rescue services including building plans, defective lifts and details of external wall systems.

The information is intended to help the fire service plan and provide an effective response hem plan and, if needed, provide an effective operational response.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Tony Carlin, said: “These regulations were introduced to meet the majority of the recommendations made in the Phase 1 report of the Grenfell Tower Enquiry, which required a change in the law. Even though the regulations came into force more than a year ago now, we’re still yet to hear from a large number of building owners or managers for whom the law applies to.

“Ultimately, the regulations are there to ensure that if a fire does occur in high-rise premises, we can tackle the incident safely. We will be contacting owners and managers we’ve not yet heard from to ensure compliance.”

The Fire Safety Regulations (England) 2022 came into force on 23 January 2023.

Further information about the new regulations and what you need to do is available on the Government website which includes a series of fact sheets which provide more detailed information.

Responsible persons can share the required information here.