Two leading North East heating firms are coming together to help raise awareness of gas safety and the dangers of faulty appliances, ahead of Gas Safety Week.
Flame Heating Group and 0800 Repair Gas are calling on homeowners in the region to make sure their heating appliances are properly checked and maintained to protect against potential fires, gas leaks or carbon monoxide poisoning.
According to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), 21 people have died and 815 have been injured as a result of gas-related incidents in the UK over the last three years.
One in six UK homes have also been deemed unsafe by the Gas Safe Register, which has inspected gas appliances at 234,593 homes from April 2010 to April 2017.
Gas Safety Week (18-24 September), which is in its seventh year, encourages people to make sure they have their gas appliances checked annually by Gas Safe registered engineers to protect against potential dangers.
Flame Heating Group is the fastest growing Heating & Plumbing merchant in the North East, and operates eight branches across the region.
Houghton le Spring-headquartered 0800 Repair Gas is a national home services business that specialises in heating, plumbing and insulation.
The two firms have a longstanding history together as Flame supplies the parts for 0800 Repair Gas’ engineers. In addition, 0800 Repair Gas helped test the Flame App, during its developmental stage, which identifies required parts for any boiler, with the ability to order the part direct from each of Flame’s outlets.
John Savage, Managing Director of Flame Heating Group, said: “Gas Safety Week is the ideal opportunity to help people realise the dangers of faulty appliances and to get them checked to prevent a potential disaster. It is a must for homeowners and landlords to install a carbon monoxide alarm in their properties, which is just as important as having a smoke alarm, and can help guard against the ‘silent killer’.”
Phil Pallister, Managing Director of 0800 Repair Gas, said: “It is vitally important to have your gas appliances checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer, who will be able to spot and rectify any faults with your heating system. Homeowners should also be vigilant of installers and engineers working on their gas appliances that they are Gas Safe registered, as it is illegal practise to work on an appliance without this accreditation.
“One in six homes have been found unsafe and more needs to be done to raise awareness of faulty appliances, so we are fully behind Gas Safety Week and its ambition to make homes safer.”
Jonathan Samuel, Managing Director for Gas Safe Register, said: “It’s great to have the support of Flame Heating Group and 0800 Repair Gas this Gas Safety Week. By working together we can reach more people and help to reduce the number of dangerous gas appliances that could be lurking in the homes of the UK’s 23 million gas consumers. We know from our own investigations data that one in six gas appliances in the UK are unsafe meaning far too many people are victims of preventable gas related incidents.”