The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned rented property owners to ensure they adequately check and maintain gas appliances or face the risk of prosecution.
The call follows the successful prosecution of a landlady who has been fined £10,000. She was also ordered to pay £4,000 in costs at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court, after pleading guilty to breaching Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
In August 2007, the landlady of a rented property in Huntingdon failed to comply with an Improvement Notice served on her, requiring gas safety checks to be carried out. She was also charged with failure to maintain gas appliances and remove gas appliances from rooms used for sleeping.
Prior to this, checks were made at the home to ensure the tenants were not actually at risk. It was discovered that of ten defects found, three were immediately dangerous and three were classified as at risk. These included two gas leaks and a very poorly maintained open-flued gas fire situated in a room used as sleeping accommodation - which for a lengthy period was used by a young married couple with a new baby.
An HSE inspector said:
"There are many myths about health and safety - carbon monoxide is not one of them. People needlessly die each year due to a lack of effective maintenance of gas appliances. Everybody should think about having annual checks - especially those responsible for letting a property. Landlords must ensure gas appliances are maintained and annually tested to ensure that they are in a safe condition and working effectively.
"This landlady had failed, despite requests by Huntingdonshire District Council housing officers and then the HSE, to arrange for the inspection of all the appliances in the home. There is a strict legal duty upon landlords, and the specific failure to comply with the Improvement Notice was a major aggravating factor in this case.
"I urge all landlords to ensure they identify and implement their duties under both the Housing Act and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations - both to reduce risk to tenants and to avoid court action such as this."
