Unsafe Situations – New Gas Safe Register Inspection Regime

Gas Safe registered installers will soon be inspected against Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP) – Edition 7, which came into force last year.

GIUSP provides comprehensive guidance to Gas Safe Registered engineers for dealing with unsafe situations in domestic and non-domestic premises supplied with gas (natural or LPG).

Registered businesses and engineers were given a 12 month lead-in period in which to update processes, procedures and documentation and carry out necessary internal training.  Inspection in line with the new edition of the guidelines begins on 1 July 2016, but installers are encouraged to adopt the revised procedure as soon as possible.

Significant changes

Installers need to be aware of the changes made by the new guidelines, including:

1. The NCS (Not to Current Standards) category has been removed. You may still record NCS situations, but this should no longer be done as part of any unsafe situation warning notice.
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. Introduction of the “Danger Do Not Use” warning label, which must be attached to an appliance irrespective of either an “At Risk” (AR) or “Immediately Dangerous” (ID) classification.  This to make it absolutely clear to customers that risky appliances must not be used.
4. Although there is one message for the gas user for ID and AR situations, the actions that should be undertaken by you (the engineer) remains the same.

Clear message

The changes follow comments made during an inquest into a gas related death.  The Coroner challenged the industry to re-examine the categories of risk applied to gas appliances so that consumers would understand more easily the levels of danger they might face.

The latest 8^th Edition of the Gas Safety Book, a guide to unsafe situations giving gas engineers essential information to keep their customers safe in accordance with GIUSP, is available to order here. 

You can also pick up a copy from one of our centres.