Installers First GSW Jingle promotes Gas Safety message

A Gas Safety jingle being hummed, sung, or tapped along to, could potentially save lives. According to research, jingles rattle around our heads for an average of 50 hours a year! That’s 58 minutes a week lasting around 17 minutes at a time. Imagine if those 58 minutes a week were spent thinking about Gas Safety?

Now, James Elmy (@the24hrplumber) from Beckenham in Kent, hopes that his memorable three-verse tune will be a lifesaver too after being unveiled as the Installers First Gas Safe Jingle winner. The full version can be seen below:

With an estimated five million unsafe gas installations currently in homes across the country, keeping our homes gas safe seems something many Brits are happy to forget about. As well as this, many fail to see the importance of employing a registered professional to check everything is working as it should.

Yorkshire and Humberside faired worst by employing the largest proportion of illegal fitters (77%), followed by the East Midlands (75%) and Londoners (72%). The results hit both pockets and safety:

One in six people would knowingly employ an illegal gas fitter
41% believe they will be cheaper
Correcting this work costs an average 25% more
£100 million each year is wasted rectifying illegal jobs, 1 in 5 of these jobs had to be disconnected immediately to make them safe

Aiming to break this dangerous trend, Installers First – sponsored by Sentinel Performance Solutions Ltd – went on the hunt to find someone to create an unforgettable tune that will not only stick in the mind – but will hopefully help prevent the one in six people who go as far to admit they would knowingly employ an illegal gas fitter.

James’ win marked the start of Gas Safety Week, which is run by the Gas Safe Register and supported by the industry.

His ukulele accompanied ditty summed up the safety message perfectly in a neat, three-verse rhyme that reminds people to ‘Make sure that you check the card/ I’m sure that it’s not very hard to do’.

James said: “I am over the moon to have won and hope my jingle will help people all over the UK to remember to put gas safety first by getting a regular boiler check, and to only employ reputable tradespeople who are Gas Safe registered.”

He also wins a new Baxi EcoBlue+ Combi boiler and Sentinel gift box, plus may have his jingle produced for use by Installers First to continue to promote the messages throughout Gas Safety Week and beyond.

One of the Installers First judges was heating and plumbing engineer, Mark Grieves of Plymouth Gas, who said: “Gas engineers are the undisputed and proven link between the public, governing bodies and the industry and are the best placed to ensure that public awareness is achieved. The #IFGSJingle competition was a creative way for passionate gas engineers and the public to raise awareness.

“Gas is the forgotten dangerous substance in a property, which has the potential to cause serious damage and kill, in an instant. This is one of the reasons why we should all be aware of the dangers and risk involved, in allowing somebody who is not trained, qualified, registered or insured, to work on any gas installation.

“It was great to see so many installers and members of the public getting behind this latest campaign and we hope it will stick in the minds of homeowners and make them think seriously about getting appliances serviced and checking for Gas Safety cards.”

Callum Mckinley, a Heating Engineer from Bathgate in Scotland, came a close second with his ‘Regard the Card’ song, followed by Hayley Smart, from St Albans who stressed the need to keep the cowboys at bay.

All of the winning entries can be seen by visiting YouTube: