CO-Gas Safety published a report on 14 February 2022 of a Project SHOUT survey of heating engineers, which it says identifies an alarming rise in dangerous gas appliances in use. The survey covered 335 engineers1.
Over a third of those surveyed, 39%, reported seeing poorly maintained or badly fitted appliances every week, and nearly two-thirds, 61%, said they saw them at least monthly. A further 31% said they came across appliances such as boilers, cookers and fires on a monthly basis that they would class as dangerous. Outside the survey, one engineer reported condemning 49 boilers in a single day at a social housing provider1.
Nearly a third of engineers, 29%, reported seeing more dangerous appliances since COVID-19. The campaigners believe this may be because homeowners were reluctant to let engineers into their homes at the height of the pandemic, could not afford to have appliances serviced, or tried to do the work themselves1.
"Campaign group Project SHOUT, which commissioned the study, is concerned that with rising energy bills and plummeting temperatures this winter, cash strapped households may put servicing their appliances to the bottom of their list of priorities, which can make families at greater risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning."
CO-Gas Safety said Project SHOUT was to be congratulated for the study but described the findings as horrifying1. The report does not give a regional breakdown of the figures, and no separate figures for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been reported.
Why it matters for households
A gas appliance that is poorly maintained or badly fitted can produce carbon monoxide, a gas with no smell, taste or colour that is produced when fuel does not burn fully. The survey points to a large share of engineers meeting such appliances routinely rather than occasionally, which suggests the problem is present in ordinary housing stock and not confined to unusual cases1.
For a household, the practical link between servicing and energy independence is that a boiler or cooker that is unsafe, or that has been condemned, cannot be used at all. A home that loses its gas heating in winter depends on whatever backup it has, and the survey's finding that cost pressures may push servicing down household priority lists points to the tension between running costs and keeping combustion appliances in safe working order1.
The report does not state how many homes are affected, how the engineers were selected, or how the survey was conducted, and none of those details have been reported. It also does not say whether any of the appliances identified led to actual carbon monoxide poisoning. Guidance on gas safety in the home and on carbon monoxide and home heating safety sets out how combustion appliances are checked and how alarms are used, including where a carbon monoxide detector should be fitted.
What happens next
No dated next steps are set out in the report. CO-Gas Safety's statement does not announce a follow-up survey, a campaign date or a change in the law, and no response from government or from the gas industry has been reported1.