The Unsafe Situations Procedure

When you find something unsafe, you don't decide on your own what to do about it. The Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP), published by IGEM as IGEM/G/11, gives the whole industry one agreed way to classify unsafe situations and act on them. HSE supports it.

Who it's for

The procedure is for Gas Safe registered businesses and engineers dealing with unsafe situations in domestic and non-domestic premises supplied with natural gas, LPG or hydrogen. It applies to all commissioned gas equipment, both installations and appliances. Its principles can also guide you in premises outside GSIUR, and in places with their own regulations, such as Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

The law behind it

• Your duty to tell people. Under regulation 34 of GSIUR, anyone working on gas who knows or suspects that an appliance can't be used without danger must take all reasonably practicable steps to tell the responsible person, and the owner if that's someone else. If neither can be told, the duty passes to the gas transporter, or for LPG the supplier.
• The user's duty. The responsible person must not use, or let anyone use, an appliance they know or suspect is dangerous. Using it once they've been told is an offence.
• What you're expected to notice. The duty covers what's within your competence and what you could reasonably notice by looking, for example when relighting after a supply interruption, or when you see an appliance during other work. You aren't expected to test appliances you aren't working on.

Visual risk assessment

Where you aren't working on an appliance but come across it, make a visual risk assessment for obvious safety defects. The procedure gives three typical cases: an appliance you see while working on another, an appliance included in a tightness test, and an appliance you relight after purging. The checks cover its location, flueing, ventilation, signs of distress (such as discolouration or heat damage) and whether it is stable and secure. When you relight an appliance after purging, also check its flame picture where you can see it. For an appliance that was part of a tightness test, checking the flame picture is best practice.

A visual check isn't a full safety check, so never describe an appliance as "safe to use" after one. There's no requirement to record a visual risk assessment, but it's advised. If it shows up an unsafe situation, apply the procedure.

How to classify

1. Check against the manufacturer's instructions first, where they're available, because they can differ from the standards. If they aren't available, assess against the current versions of the appropriate standards.
2. Classify anything unsafe as either Immediately Dangerous (ID) or At Risk (AR). There are no other categories. See 14.3.
3. Make it safe and advise the responsible person not to use it, explaining why. In a few cases turning off doesn't remove the risk; these are dealt with differently.

Table 1 of the procedure lists the most common situations and their category, but it isn't exhaustive. Several small defects that wouldn't matter alone can add up to an unsafe situation. The final decision is yours, based on your own assessment of the site, and you must be able to justify it. If you're unsure, seek further guidance straight away.

When an appliance can't be commissioned

If an appliance or installation can't be fully commissioned, it must not be left connected to the gas supply. Disconnect it, seal it with an appropriate fitting, and label it to say it mustn't be used until it has been properly commissioned.

Sources: IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 1.3–1.9, 2.1scope, edition IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 3.3legal duties IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 Sections 4–5classifying IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 Appendix 5visual checks GSIUR 1998 reg. 34use of appliances CCN1 Issue 16 §8assessed

▸Tutor notes

• Walk through a service visit: list every appliance the engineer will see, and decide which get a full check and which a visual risk assessment.
• Ask why "safe to use" must never be written after a visual check alone.
• Discuss the "multiple defects" point: give three minor findings on one appliance and ask whether together they make it unsafe.