Gas safety by Accent Group

Gas Safety

Keeping the gas supply and appliances in your home safe As householders, we rely on our main heating appliance(s), cookers and fires to keep us warm, provide us with hot baths and showers, and for cooking our hot meals. As your landlord, we have to make sure any gas, oil and solid fuel appliances we provide in your home are safe and in good working order, so it’s very important they are safety checked and serviced every year. Not only does this help to keep them safe, it can stop them breaking down. Gas safety checks By law, we must carry out a gas safety check every 12 months on the gas appliances we provide in your home. We use Gas Safe registered gas contractors to carry out our safety checks. Our contractors will write to you to tell you when your safety check is due and when they would like to do it. If the appointment isn’t suitable, you can arrange another one. You must let our contractor into your home to carry the safety check out. If you do not, you could be putting the safety of your household and your neighbours at risk and this is not something we can ignore If we cannot get access to your home, either because you have not made an appointment or you won’t let our contractors in, we may go to court to gain access. If we have to do this, we will charge you for the cost. I f you have other gas appliances in your home that we have not provided, we strongly recommend that you have them serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer every 12 months.

Gas Safety

If you live in a flat and you have a gas cooker, each burner must be fitted with a flame supervision device (FSD). This device cuts off the gas supply if the flame goes out. Some older models of gas cookers do not have FSDs, so you need to check they do before you buy them. You cannot fit an FSD to a cooker that hasn’t had one in the first place. As with any gas appliance, if you want to have a gas cooker fitted in your home, you must use a Gas Safe registered engineer. If you have any problems with gas appliances we do not own, call a Gas Safe registered engineer to check and repair them. The Gas Safe Register Gas appliances that are not fitted properly can cause lethal carbon monoxide poisoning, and gas leaks and gas explosions. To find a Gas Safe registered engineer, use the contact details below: Telephone: 0800 408 5500 Text phone: 0800 408 0606 (for hard of hearing) Email: enquiries@gassaferegister.co.uk Post: PO Box 6804, Basingstoke, RG24 4NB. In an emergency To help the National Grid deal with emergency calls effectively please only call the national gas emergency number (0800 111 999) if you: • smell gas; • suspect an emission of carbon monoxide; or • wish to report a fire or explosion.

Gas Safety

In the meantime: • Turn off the gas at the meter unless the meter is in a cellar/basement. • Don’t smoke or strike matches. • Don’t turn electrical switches on or off. • Put out naked flames. • Open doors and windows. • Keep people away from the area affected. When you can’t smell gas but still think something is wrong Carbon monoxide poisoning is life threatening, but it can’t be seen or smelled. Be aware of headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness, they are signs something is wrong. Warning signs on your appliance may be yellow flames instead of blue ones, black marks or stains on or around the appliance and too much condensation in the room. However, sometimes there are none of these signs, which is why carbon monoxide is so dangerous and hard to detect. We supply carbon monoxide detectors in most of our homes with gas appliances which will sound an alarm if they detect any carbon monoxide gases. If you do not have one in your home, let us know and we will supply one with your next gas safety check.

Gas Safety

If you are feeling ill, or if you can small gas: • Get fresh air immediately. Open all your doors and windows to ventilate the room. • Switch off the appliance and do not use it again until it has been checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer. (If we own the appliance, ring us immediately and we will arrange an inspection). • Turn off the gas supply at the mains. • Do not light a match or smoke a cigarette in the property. • Call the National Gas Emergency number. • If you are feeling ill, visit your GP or the hospital immediately and tell them that your symptoms could be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. • If the appliance is your own, contact a Gas Safe registered engineer to check and fix it. If you have any questions about gas servicing, or you are worried something might be wrong, please contact us.

Stay in touch T: 0345 678 0555 E: customerservices@accentgroup.org @accenthousing Office addresses and opening times are available on our website AG15