Council checking gas appliance safety

Staff from Denbighshire's Environmental Health Team are visiting catering premises across the county to assess whether business owners are maintaining their gas appliances and having them checked by competent gas engineers.

They are also providing a supportive and advisory role for businesses.

During inspections, Environmental Health Officers ask for evidence of how appliances being maintained. If there are any safety concerns, the officers may serve a formal notice stating what actions must be taken to comply with the law.

So far, In this latest round of safety checks:

• Three prohibition notice have been issued to three separate businesses, due to them having a gas cooking range in a dangerous condition.
• An improvement notice has been served on a cafe owner in Rhyl where the Council found the gas cooking range had not been maintained in a safe condition

Effective maintenance means any servicing or repairs are carried out by a suitably registered and qualified engineer.

Servicing should be carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Generally the maximum period between services specified by equipment manufacturers is 12 months.

Emlyn Jones, Denbighshire's Public Protection Manager, said: "We are focusing on commercial catering gas safety, as it can be very serious if something goes wrong. A gas explosion or carbon monoxide from a faulty appliance may affect the public, not just employees. 

"That is why it is vitally important that businesses comply with the law and these latest checks are a good way of raising the profile of this issue and making sure people in Denbighshire remain safe."

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said: "There is a legal duty on business owners to maintain gas appliances, for their own safety and that of people who use their premises. 

"We work closely with businesses to educate and advise them about issues of this nature, but the Council will not hesitate in taking enforcement action if business owners willingly ignore advice or if appliances pose a health and safety danger to the public. We would far rather see everyone complying with the law than having to take action against business owners".

All businesses are asked to find a registered engineer to carry out safety checks. People can call Gas Safe register on 0800 408 5500 or check the www.GasSafeRegister.co.ukwebsite for details of registered engineers.