HSE re-appoints CORGI as gas installer registration body for 1999-2000, pending fundamental review of gas safety regime

Citation

(1999), "HSE re-appoints CORGI as gas installer registration body for 1999-2000, pending fundamental review of gas safety regime", Facilities, Vol. 17 No. 5/6. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.1999.06917eab.014

HSE re-appoints CORGI as gas installer registration body for 1999-2000, pending fundamental review of gas safety regime

HSE re-appoints CORGI as gas installer registration body for 1999-2000, pending fundamental review of gas safety regime

Keywords Gas industry, Health and safety

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has approved a bid from the Council of Registered Gas Installers (CORGI) to operate for another two years the statutory register of gas installation businesses. The three-year approval term, granted to CORGI in 1996, expired on 31 December 1998.

On 19 August 1998, HSE issued an early warning of this expiry and published the criteria for a statutory registration body, inviting bids from any interested parties wishing to seek approval. HSE explained that the two-year approval period was seen as an interim arrangement, pending a fundamental review of current gas safety arrangements to be carried out within this period.

While CORGI has so far been the sole body to submit a bid for the period 1999-2000, there is nothing in the legislation to prevent alternative bodies from seeking approval to carry out some or all of the functions laid down in the criteria, in parallel with CORGI.

At the same time, HSE has firmed up its plans for the fundamental review. The review will examine the health and safety regime for installation and use of gas in its widest sense, in order to determine whether, or how far, the current system should be changed. The review will include the current registration arrangements and the relevant regulations but will also range across policy options other than the legislative, and consider alternative enforcement strategies.

The review team will be led by Alun Williams, of HSE's Safety Policy Directorate. The review will include work to be carried out for HSE by independent consultants on the statutory registration scheme. The review aims to reach its conclusions by the end of December this year.

As the risks associated with domestic use of gas extend beyond occupational health and safety and potentially affect most consumers, the review will involve consultation with, and the co-operation of, bodies outside the occupational health and safety sphere, such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Office for Gas Supply (OFGAS), and representatives of consumer interests including the Gas Consumers' Council (GCC) and the Consumers' Association (CA).

The full terms of reference for the fundamental review are:

"The review will examine the health and safety regime for installation and use of gas and determine whether, or how far, the current system should be changed.

The review will include:

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  contextual aspects of other domestic hazards, e.g. other fuels and electrical safety;

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  analysis of available data to establish underlying causes (problem definition);

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  relative roles of health and safety legislation versus other instruments (e.g. fiscal/licensing, advice/publicity, voluntary sector);

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  scope of health and safety legislation (domestic/commercial/industrial);

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  format of health and safety legislation (prescription/goal-setting);

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  effectiveness and efficiency of arrangements for statutory registration of installation businesses;

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  competence/certification of individual operatives; and

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  alternative enforcement strategies/bodies.

The review will also pilot alternative approaches to the policy-making process."

For further information contact: HSE's InfoLine. Tel: 0541 545500, or write to: HSE Information Centre, Broad Lane, Sheffield S3 7HQ.