Reporting: RIDDOR and the Gas Emergency Service

Some unsafe situations must be reported beyond the customer: to the gas emergency service, to HSE under RIDDOR, or to Gas Safe Register. Knowing which goes where, and how quickly, is part of the job.

Calling the Gas Emergency Contact Centre

Several situations in the Unsafe Situations Procedure tell you to contact the emergency service: for example a smell of gas after a passed tightness test, a wrong meter outlet pressure that affects how appliances work, or a customer who refuses to let you disconnect an ID appliance. For LPG, contact the gas supplier instead. Before you call, have ready:

• confirmation that it's an Immediately Dangerous situation
• your name, your business's Gas Safe Register number and your own ID number
• the responsible person's name, and the address
• what the situation is, the type of appliance or installation, and where it is in the property.

Ask for the call reference number and record it.

RIDDOR regulation 11: two kinds of report

RIDDOR 2013 regulation 11 covers gas in two parts.

11(1) Gas incidents. When someone has died, lost consciousness or been taken to hospital because of an injury connected with gas, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, unburnt gas, a fire or an explosion, it must be reported. This duty is not yours. It rests only with the gas conveyor (for natural gas) or the filler, importer or supplier (other than a retailer) of LPG. They must notify HSE without delay and send a report within 14 days. Cases where people took themselves to hospital, or were taken to another medical facility, aren't reportable.

11(2) Dangerous gas fittings. This one is your business's duty. A gas fitting, which includes appliances and the flues or ventilation used with them, must be reported if its design, construction, installation, modification or servicing has caused, or was likely to cause, someone's death, loss of consciousness or hospital treatment, through:

• accidental leakage of gas
• incomplete combustion of gas, or
• inadequate removal of the products of combustion.

This is often called poor workmanship or poor design.

RIDDOR places the 11(2) duty on the "approved person": the employer or self-employed person in the class approved under GSIUR, which is currently the Gas Safe registered business. Nothing needs reporting a second time if it has already been reported.

What isn't reportable under RIDDOR

• Most RIDDOR cases will be ID, but not every ID case is RIDDOR. An ID situation that doesn't meet both tests isn't reportable, even if it's down to poor workmanship.
• Lack of maintenance isn't reportable under RIDDOR, even in rented property. If you find fittings that are dangerous through lack of maintenance in rented or commercial premises, you can send the details to HSE as a concern.
• Dangerous faults that aren't about gas safety, such as damaged electrical connections, generally aren't reportable.

Unsafe gas situations caused by poor workmanship that don't meet the RIDDOR tests can be reported to Gas Safe Register online, or to HSE.

Suspected theft of gas

If you suspect or find theft of natural gas or meter tampering, follow your employer's procedures, or report it, anonymously if you like, to Stay Energy Safe (0800 023 2777). For theft of LPG or interference with an LPG vessel, contact the LPG supplier.

Sources: RIDDOR 2013 reg. 11gas incidents and fittings IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 6.1 notecontact centre information IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 Section 8RIDDOR and other reporting IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 Appendix 7flowchart CCN1 Issue 16 §8assessed

▸Tutor notes

• Give learners three findings: a flue disconnected by a previous installer, a boiler that is dangerous because it hasn't been serviced for years, and a meter tampered with. Which are RIDDOR, which go elsewhere, and who makes each report?
• Ask why a repair at the time of the visit doesn't remove the duty to report.
• Point out that RIDDOR 11(1) belongs to the gas transporter or LPG supplier, not the engineer, even though the engineer may be the first to find the incident (see 14.6).