GAS SAFETY WEEK 2011

September 12th sees the launch of the first ever Gas Safety Week run by Gas Safe Register.

Gas Safety Week aims to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of your gas appliances. Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas. You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but it can kill quickly with no warning.
By taking care of your gas appliances properly you are taking care of your home and your loved ones. Follow these top tips to help keep you and your family gas safe:

• make sure only a Gas Safe registered engineer works on your gas appliances
• make sure gas appliances have a regular service and an annual gas safety check,
• always check the engineer's Gas Safe Register ID card

As part of Gas Safety Week we’re going around the country raising awareness of gas safety and giving out essential advice to help people keep safe in their homes. Many people buy gas appliances but we want to remind them that only a Gas Safe registered engineer should fit their appliance. We’re working with major gas appliance retailers B&Q and Comet to help raise awareness of gas safety and during Gas Safety Week we’ve got events taking place in some of their stores across the country. If you’re in the area why not pop by and see us:

Date	Location
14th September  10am - 2pm	Coatbridge, ML5 4AN (B&Q)  Erdington, B35 7RD (B&Q)  Sutton, SM1 4RQ (B&Q)  Swansea, SA1 7DF (B&Q))  Isle of Man, IM2 2QT (B&Q)
15th September  10am - 2pm	Dundee, DD2 3PT (B&Q)  Meir Park, ST3 7QA (B&Q)  Plymouth, PL7 4TB (Comet)  Tottenham Vale, N15 4QD (Comet)
16th September  10am - 2pm	Trafford Park, M41 7LG (B&Q)  Enfield, EN1 1TH (Comet)  Rotherham, S60 1TG (Comet)
17th September  10am - 2pm	Durham, DH1 2HT (B&Q)  Grimsby, DN32 9AW (B&Q)  Gillingham, ME8 6BY (B&Q)  Cribbs Causeway, BS10 7TX (B&Q)  Kirkcaldy, KY2 6QL (Comet)
18th September  10am - 2pm	Bolton, BL1 2SL (B&Q)  Swindon, SN2 2DJ (B&Q)

Gas Safety Week will see national advertising and promotions across the whole country with organisations both small and large getting involved. If you or an organisation you work for would like to get involved there are plenty or ways to support Gas Safety Week. No matter how big or small your organisation we would love you to pledge your support of Gas Safety Week. We have created various tools for you to use to support the week and to help get the Gas Safe message out there.

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Completion of Section 2 Part A

Another weeks gone by and its holiday time again, fortunately i have finished Section 2 Part A so am waiting now for Section 2 Part B  to arrive in the post. Unfortunately i didn't get TMA 24 in until Friday so i will have to wait until after the bank holiday for my results from that assignment and to apply for weeks 3 and 4 practical training. My certificate of achievement Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 and card arrived this week and i have had it framed and it has pride of place on my office (cellar) wall it looks a little lonely at the moment but there will soon be more certs to keep it company, so that will be another task after spring bank holiday to contact my local water undertaker (Yorkshire Water) to join the Approved Plumber/Contractor Scheme.

Last week i said i would write about modules 23 & 24 so lets take a look at module 23 Owner's leadership & Delegation Skills I think its important here to know what sort of person you are as this affects the way we interact with others, whether you intend to work alone or as part of a bigger business with employee's you will have to deal with people on a daily basis and need to develop good leadership skills if only to instill feelings of confidence in your competence from customers and others that you deal with. Also knowing the skills that the people who work with you will help in delegating tasks out of your hands to allow you to concentrate on other matters whether that is just having you other half answering the phone and taking job details its necessary to understand their skills and allow them to apply themselves to that role without the need to oversee everything they do.

Now onto module 24 Tools & Setting Up A Workshop It is extremely important to work with the correct tools and they should be kept in tip top condition to ensure safe usage and protect against accidental damage to fixtures and fittings. we all probably have an assortment of tools already and an even bigger list of tools that we want, this for me is an ongoing procurement process, it is my belief that you cant skimp when purchasing tools, as high quality tools will give you a much longer life span. i am quite fortunate having come from a joinery background i already have a large selection of hand and power tools so it is the more specialist tools that i am constantly saving money to purchase so prioritising is essential the way i do this is to purchase tools as i require them for a particular job and if i cant afford the particular item at that time the hire shop is my next port of call, this can be quite expensive so its worth trying to fit several jobs into the hire time and having the tool over several days. As i have already stated in a previous posting i have converted my cellar into a workshop come office, this dosn't have the best access but it is burglar proof unlike a garage so i can sleep soundly not worrying about the thousands of pounds worth of tools. Its the tradesman's nightmare how do you secure your equipment when your out on a job in the van? I would like to here your opinions on the matter craw@talk21.com That's about it for another week except to mention if you need hand pipe benders please read my article on British Pipe Bending Equipment thanks for reading. 

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