The Gas Safe Register makes sure heating engineers are supported

The Gas Safe Register is not a membership body or a trade association, however it plays a very important role in making sure engineers are valued, supported and promoted around the industry. The GSR offers a variety of services to engineers, that they are fully encouraged to take advantage of. An important service is the provision of technical support. The GSR has a special helpline, staffed by an expert team of dedicated gas specialists and this helpline is open to all gas engineers with a gas-related issue. There is also a huge wealth of up-to-date information on gassaferegister.co.uk, where there are on-demand learning modules, specifically designed to educate, refresh and reinforce all registered engineers. The introduction of the Registered Gas Engineer App has made all this information very accessible on the go,via tablets and smartphones. A new tool that it is hoped will really take off in 2015, is the Annual Gas Safety Check Reminder service. This is a free service that allows people to sign up and receive an email when they are due for a safety check. Over 7,500 people have signed up so far, but it is hoped this will dramatically increase once word has spread. Additionally, all gas safe registered engineers are being encouraged to get the Gas Engineer Workspace App. This app assists with managing appointments, schedules and customer details and also contains very useful gas calculation tools. The Gas Safe Register has also been running awareness campaigns designed to improve the public’s knowledge of gas safety issues and to help increase demand for the services of gas engineers. The two main messages being promoted are to only use a registered gas engineer to carry out work in home and to make sure that gas appliances are checked on an annual basis. The GSR believe the message is getting through and say that their research shows 90% of people know they should only use a registered engineer to carry out a safety check and 82% know their systems should be checked annually. Another very important service the GSR provides is the ability to report shoddy workmanship carried out by unregistered engineers. They have a dedicated investigations team that will look in detail at reports of illegal gas work and they work closely with the Health and Safety Executive, who have the ability to prosecute individuals in a court of law. Hopefully in 2015, we will see an increasing number of gas engineers making use of the excellent services provided by the Gas Safe Register. Article by Benjamin Clarke