A London housing association has been fined £2,500 for carrying out unsafe gas work.
Inside Housing say:
The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted Shepherd’s Bush Housing Association after an error by staff led to gas flooding into the home of a pregnant mother and her two children.
The 5,000-home organisation pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court on 29 April to breaching its responsibilities as an employer under the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974.
The court fined SBHA £2,500, a low fine which took into account SBHA’s not-for-profit status and its previous good record on gas safety.
An HSE investigation found that in May 2014 a tradesperson, not on the Gas Safe Register, was dispatched by SBHA to cut a gas pipe that was causing a tripping hazard in the Fulham flat.
SBHA staff believed the gas pipe was not connected to the gas supply, but when the tenant topped up her prepayment meter gas flooded into the property. Nobody was injured and there was no damage to the property.
HSE inspector Zameer Bhunnoo said: ‘It is essential that landlords have adequate procedures in place to ensure that an appropriately competent tradesperson is assigned for any repairs required. In this case, a Gas Safe registered engineer should have been used.’ By law, all gas engineers should be on the Gas Safety Register.
A spokesperson for Shepherds Bush Housing Group said the organisation has apologised to the tenant. She said: ‘The judge and HSE acknowledged the incident was a result of human error and not a failure in our systems. The judge also acknowledged that we had already reviewed and changed our processes to eliminate the possibility of such a human error occurring again and carried out an independent review to ensure that no stone was left unturned.’
SBHA is a backer of the Gas Access campaign, which is calling for housing associations to have the same powers as councils to carry out gas safety inspections at short notice.