Gas safety

A smell of gas within your property can be alarming and should be treated seriously.  There are several important steps that you need to take if you smell gas; this guide will take you through this process.  Knowing how to react to a gas emergency could save your property and, more importantly, the lives of those within it.

What should I do if I smell gas?

If you smell gas inside a property, there are several steps that you should take.

• DO call the gas emergency service number on 08081624444 as soon as it is safe to do so.  They will provide safety advice on what to do next.  They will also dispatch an emergency engineer to check your property, they do not charge for this service. The engineer will require entry to your house in order to make it safe for you. All engineers carry an ID.
• DO open any doors and windows to ventilate the property, where possible.
• DO turn off the gas supply at the emergency control valve if possible, this valve is usually located near your gas meter, gas tank or gas cylinders. 
• DO NOT operate any electrical appliances or switches, either turning them on or turning them off.
• DO NOT light any sort of flame or gas appliances.
• DO NOT smoke.
• Wait until the emergency engineer has given you the all-clear before returning to your property.

If you smell gas outside of your home, you should call the gas emergency service provider on 08081624444 at any time of the day or night. Refrain from lighting any naked flames in the area and wait for an emergency gas engineer to attend and investigate the concerns.

What to do next?

The emergency engineer may advise that extra work needs to be done on your pipework and appliances. You will need a Gas Safe Registered Engineer to do this for you. You can find an engineer by contacting the Gas Safe Register online or by calling them on 0800 408 5500. 

Fumes

If you suspect that fumes are escaping from a gas appliance you must contact the gas emergency service number 08081624444 as soon as possible.  Turn off your gas supply, open doors or windows, go outside into the fresh air.

Escaping gas or fumes may lead to you feeling ill with symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, nausea and headaches. These symptoms might ease when you leave the property, however we advise that you visit your GP or hospital as a precaution if you’ve been exposed to escaping gas or fumes.  If you find yourself with these symptoms but can’t smell any gas, it could be a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning.  

Gas appliances should be serviced every year by a competent Gas Safe registered engineer.  You should install a carbon monoxide detector where you have a gas appliance installed.

Oil fired appliances and installations

If you smell fuel oil within your property, garden or house you should in the first instance contact your oil delivery company for advice.  You can also seek advice from your appliance service engineer or installer of your appliance. 

If you are concerned about oil pollution the Island’s Environmental Protection Unit will be able to advise on how to deal with this.

If there is a strong smell of heating oil in your home you should ventilate you house by opening any doors or windows and turn off the oil supply before contacting your oil supplier or service engineer.

Where you smell or suspect fumes from your oil fired appliance or where your carbon monoxide alarm has activated you should turn off your appliance, open doors and windows to ventilate the property, switch off your oil supply and leave the building as soon as possible.  You should not use your appliances again until they have been checked and confirmed as being safe to use by a competent oil technician. Depending on your symptoms, you are advised to seek medical advice from your GP or the A&E department. 

Safety advice concerning oil installations can be sought from OFTEC or 01473626298. Oil appliances should be serviced at least once a year and where you have an oil fired appliance installed you should have a carbon monoxide detector fitted in the same room.

Advice for solid fuel concerns

If you smell fumes from a solid fuel appliance or where your carbon monoxide alarm has activated you should immediately open doors and windows to ventilate the property, switch off you appliance where possible and leave the building.  You should contact a competent HETAS installer as soon as possible. 

You should not use your appliances again until they have been checked and confirmed as being safe to use by a competent person. Depending on your symptoms, you are advised to seek medical advice from your GP or the A&E department. 

If you see smoke entering your property or you believe that your chimney is on fire you should call 999 straight away.  The fire service provide advice on the safety of chimney to reduce the risk of a chimney fire.

HETAS can provide further advice on the safety of solid fuel appliances their number is 01684 278170 or through their website. Flues and chimneys should be swept at least annually and up to 4 times per year.  You should install a carbon monoxide detector in rooms where you have a solid fuel appliance, you are also advised to have your log burner or stoves checked on a regular basis by a competent HETAS registered business.

Useful telephone numbers

Isle of Man Energy

Gas escapes/fumes and other gas emergencies.

Telephone: 08081624444 (24hrs)
Website: https://isleofmanenergy.im/

Manx Petroleum

Oil concerns.

Telephone: 01624 691691
Website: https://www.mp.im/

EVF

Oil concerns.

Telephone: 01624 844000
Website: https://www.evf.co.im/

Manx Utilities

Electricity supply emergencies.

Telephone: 01624 687687 (24hrs)
Website: https://www.manxutilities.im/

Gas Safe Register

Gas safety advice.

Telephone: 0800 408 5500
Website: http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

OFTEC

Oil safety advice.

Telephone: 01473626298
Website: https://www.oftec.org/

HETAS

Solid fuel safety advic.e

Telephone: 01684 278170
Website: https://www.hetas.co.uk/

Building control

Structural advice and reports of unsafe buildings.

Telephone: 
Douglas 01624 696375
Onchan 01624 675564
All Island 01624 685950

Environmental Protection Unit

Oil spills and oil pollution concerns.

Telephone: 01624 697327
Email: Send email 

Gas Safe Register maintain the register of businesses and operatives who are competent to undertake both piped natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) work in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Guernsey. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 for a gas engineering business to legally undertake gas work that is within the scope of the Regulations they must be on the Gas Safe Register.

Gas Safe registered engineers carry an identity card which consumers are encouraged to ask to see before they have gas work carried out in their home.  The front of the card has a photograph, a registration number and an expiry date and the reverse shows the different categories of work that the engineer is qualified to undertake, e.g. cookers, boilers, gas fires.

New businesses and engineers with no previous history or those returning to the industry who have a history of complaints or a record of unsafe gas work will be subject to a time limited probationary period. During that period they will be required to report all gas work they carry out so it can be inspected by a Gas Safe Register Inspector.

The Gas Safe Register have a team of inspectors who monitor that gas work is being undertaken competently and safely. They deal with complaints and undertake risk based proactive inspections and work closely with regulators such as HSE, the HSWI and Local Authorities.

Gas engineers and consumers can contact the Gas Safe Register in any of these ways:

• Gas Safe Register
• Phone - Consumers: 0800 408 5500; Engineers: 0800 408 5577
• Email - enquiries@gassaferegister.co.uk

If you wish to complain about the safety of a gas installation, the work of an engineer or about the service provided by the Gas Safe Register you should contact the Consumer Complaints section of the Gas Safe Register. 

Check an engineer – are they gas safe registered?

The Gas Safe Register website has a 'Find an Engineer' service where you can find a local registered engineer simply by inputting your postcode. Alternatively consumers can call the free phone helpline on 0800 408 5500.

Consumers can also check that the engineer who has come to undertake the work is the engineer the 'found' on the website through the 'Check an Engineer' service on the Gas Safe Register website. By inputting the licence number from the engineers ID card. Consumers will be able to see pictures of the registered engineers and details of their qualifications. 

What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, poisonous gas produced by incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels, including gas, oil, wood and coal. Carbon-based fuels are safe to use. It is only when the fuel does not burn properly that excess CO is produced, which is poisonous.  When CO enters the body, it prevents the blood from bringing oxygen to cells, tissues, and organs.

You can't see it, taste it or smell it but CO can kill quickly without warning. According to the HSE statistics [OS1] (for the UK) every year around 7 people die from CO poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues that have not been properly installed, maintained or that are poorly ventilated. Levels that do not kill can cause serious harm to health if breathed in over a long period. In extreme cases paralysis and brain damage can be caused as a result of prolonged exposure to CO. Increasing public understanding of the risks of CO poisoning and taking sensible precautions could dramatically reduce this risk.

There are signs that you can look out for which indicate incomplete combustion is occurring and may result in the production of CO:

• yellow or orange rather than blue flames (except fuel effect fires or flueless appliances which display this colour flame)
• soot or yellow/brown staining around or on appliances
• pilot lights that frequently blow out
• increased condensation inside windows 

Carbon monoxide can be produced by any combustion appliance, including those that burn fossil fuels e.g. oil, wood and coal. If you have one of these appliances you should make sure that it is serviced and maintained by a competent person and the chimney is regularly swept. 

What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?

Early symptoms of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning can mimic many common ailments and may easily be confused with food poisoning, viral infections, flu or simple tiredness. Symptoms to look out for include:

• headaches or dizziness
• breathlessness
• nausea
• loss of consciousness
• tiredness
• pains in the chest or stomach
• erratic behaviour
• visual problems

For more information on symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning visit the NHS.

If you or your family experience any of the above symptoms and believe you may have been exposed to carbon monoxide, you should seek urgent medical advice from either your GP, MEDS or an A&E department. 

What should I do if I think my appliance is spilling carbon monoxide?

• Call Isle of Man Energy (formally known as Manx Gas) on 0808 1624 444
• Switch off the appliance and shut off the gas supply at the meter control valve
• Open all doors and windows to ventilate the room

Visit your GP and tell him/her that you believe you may have been exposed to carbon monoxide

If you are a landlord then further domestic gas information is available at the UK’s HSW web page general landlords' duties. Or through the Environmental Health Team at DEFA who can be contacted on +44 1624 685894 or through their online contact service.

Report a Health and Safety Concern