Man fined £800 for unregistered gas fitting

A man has been fined for a workplace incident that could have resulted in people suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Mr Michael Huggins, from Bristol, pleaded guilty of twice breaking the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations at North Avon magistrates court and was subsequently ordered to pay a fine of £800 in addition to costs of £200.

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it was ruled that Mr Huggins had carried out work at a domestic property in his home city in 2008 without being registered with the statutory safety body at that time - CORGI.

His work was then found to be defective, meaning that he was potentially endangering the lives of his customers through his unqualified workmanship.

Following the case, HSE inspector Nigel Long commented that carrying out work on gas installations without being a member of the registration body is "dangerous and illegal".

Carbon monoxide poisoning has numerous symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness and nausea and can be fatal.

Posted by Patrick White
 

06/08/2010 15:46