Martindale Electric is urging gas engineers to take extra care when working with or around electricity. Many installers can come into contact with electricity whilst carrying out seemingly innocuous tasks and, sadly, preventable deaths still occur in the workplace.
“We are urging all gas engineers to identify the point of isolation, lock off the electricity supply and place warning tags onto the equipment before they begin any work,” says Steve Dunning, Martindale’s Managing Director. “It is vitally important and could save your life.”
It was agreed in July 2020 that gas engineers need to be able to show that they have the knowledge and competence to isolate the electrical supply to a gas appliance safely. By July 2025, the five-year ACS cycle will be completed, which means that all gas engineers should have knowledge of safe electrical isolation.
The Gas Safe Register’s Technical Bulletin 118 addressed test procedures to keep service engineers safe from electrical hazards. The guidance requires verification of mains earthing and safe isolation of circuits. It described how it’s important to demonstrate the effectiveness of the earthing for Class 1 equipment before carrying out any work.
With this in mind, Martindale developed the TB118KIT1 Kit especially for gas engineers. It includes the VIPD138 voltage indicator and proving unit, the EZ650 earth loop and polarity checker for socket and spur testing and the LOKKITGAS1 which enables gas service engineers to securely lock off circuits before carrying out work on appliances connected to the mains power supply.
“All Martindale kits are designed with our core value of ‘Keeping you Safe’ in mind. We also have a series of informative downloads and infographics on our website to help gas engineers as part of our five step ALIVE campaign,” explains Steve.
You can access further information on electrical safety, the ALIVE campaign and the TB118KIT1 Kit at www.martindale-electric.co.uk
