§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further steps he is taking to ensure that only Confederation of Registered Gas Installers—approved gas engineers carry out work on gas appliances. [7924]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordThe Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994 require that gas installation businesses carrying out gas work in domestic or commercial premises must be registered with a body approved by the Health and Safety Executive. Currently, the approved body for this purpose is the Council for Registered Gas Installers. This legal requirement is being reinforced in the HSE's current national publicity campaign about the dangers of gas-related carbon monoxide poisoning.
On 1 December 1995, the HSE published new criteria against which it will consider and approve organisations to operate a statutory registration scheme for gas installation businesses. These criteria introduce a specific requirement on bodies so approved to publicise regularly the need for the public to use only registered installation businesses to undertake gas work. An approved body must operate within criteria prescribed by the HSE.