A landlord has been fined after he failed to make sure gas safety checks were carried out at a house in Blackburn, putting a family of eight at risk.
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Rashid Hussain was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after he ignored repeated warnings about not arranging an annual visit by a registered gas engineer to a property on Longshaw Lane in the town.
Blackburn Magistrates’ Court heard Mr Hussain had provided proof to his tenants of a gas safety check when he first rented out the property to a couple and their six young children in September 2008.
But the 29-year-old failed to get a registered gas engineer to carry out another check a year later. He was served with an Improvement Notice by HSE in November 2010, requiring him to arrange an inspection within 21 days, but he failed to act on this.
Mr Hussain, of Walter Street in Blackburn, admitted breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 in prosecution costs on 6 January 2012.
The court was told that Mr Hussain had also been prosecuted by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council in 2011 for two other offences at the same address.
He was found guilty of renting out the property without getting a suitable licence from the council, and ignoring an Improvement Notice issued after the house was found not to be in a fit state to live in. In that case, Mr Hussain was ordered to pay more than £10,000 in fines and costs, later reduced to just over £6,500 on appeal.
Speaking after the latest hearing, HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said:
“A young family have had to move out of the home they rented because their lives were being put at risk by Mr Hussain.
“He was happy to accept thousands of pounds in rent but refused to pay less than a hundred pounds for an annual gas safety check, despite receiving repeated warnings.
“Improvement notices should act as a final warning to individuals about complying with health and safety laws, and we will continue to prosecute in cases where notices are ignored.”
Paul Johnston, Chief Executive of Gas Safe Register, the official list of legal and safe gas engineers, added:
“By law, every rented home should have an annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer to make sure that all gas fittings and appliances are working safely and efficiently, and this is the landlord’s legal responsibility.
“Landlords must also give tenants a copy of the gas safety record to prove that these checks have been done. If your landlord hasn’t provided an up to date gas safety record, you could be at risk from gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.
“So even when you’re only planning on living somewhere for a short time, don’t forget to ask about gas safety.”
Further Information
- Gas installers undertaking gas installation and maintenance work must be registered with a body approved by the HSE. CAPITA was awarded the contract to provide a new gas installer registration scheme – Gas Safe Register – in Great Britain from April 2009.
- Regulation 36(3)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states: “a landlord shall ensure that each appliance and flue to which that duty extends is checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked for safety”.
- Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It is an offence for a person to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice (including any such notice as modified on appeal).”
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