Are you aware of the changes to the Gas Industry's Unsafe Situation Procedure

The Gas Safe Register has recently published its latest edition of the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure; are you and your business ready to implement the changes?

Main Body

The Gas Safe Register published Edition 7 of the Unsafe Situations Procedure on July 1 st 2015.

Available as a free download on the Gas Safe Register website, the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure provides guidance to Gas Safe registered engineers and businesses in dealing with unsafe situations in domestic, commercial and industrial premises that are supplied with natural or liquefied petroleum gas.

The new edition contains significant changes to the previous Procedure:

1. The NCS (Not to Current Standards) category has been removed.

2. In certain circumstances, turning off the gas to an At Risk (AR) installation won’t remove the risk or danger. They now have their own amended procedure engineers must follow.

3. The GIUSP no longer lists installations that are RIDDOR reportable. However, you are still required to notify under 6(1) or 6(2) or RIDDOR.

4. A ‘Danger Do Not Use’ warning label has been introduced.

‘Danger Do Not Use’ label

The engineer must attach a ‘Danger Do Not Use’ label to any appliance or installation that is Immediately Dangerous (ID) or At Risk.

Businesses and Gas Safe engineers will be required to inform the homeowner, landlord or client of the type and level of risk before any warning labels are issued. For example, you will need to explain that an ‘Immediately Dangerous’ installation is one that if operated, or left connected to a gas supply, is considered to be immediately dangerous to people or property. If the installation or appliance is classified ‘At Risk’, you are required to let the appropriate person know that it has one of more faults present that could constitute a danger to life or property.

There are a limited number of cases in which turning off an installation will not remove or reduce the risk . In these cases a ‘Warning Notice’ should be used rather than a ‘Danger Do Not Use’ label and you will need to inform the person of whom to contact for further investigation.

Please see Edition 7 of the Unsafe Situations Procedure for further clarification.

When do these changes need to be implemented?

This revised Unsafe Situations Procedure came into effect on July 1 st 2015. However, to enable engineers and businesses to implement the necessary processes and carry out internal training to inform and update staff, Gas Safe Register will not be inspecting to this version of the Procedure until July 1 st 2016.

If you are confused or concerned about how these changes will affect your business, remember that the team at Gas Training & Assessment is always on hand with industry-leading advice and support. Simply call us on 01268 727797.