GAS SAFE NEWS 2010

21st century women admit they are wary of dealing with tradesmen and leave ‘getting the gas engineer in’ to the guys

27th April 2010

Women claim to make three times as many household decisions as men, but despite being an assertive generation, they still leave ‘traditional jobs’ such as getting the gas engineer in and servicing the car to their partners, according to new research from Gas Safe Register.*

Women confess that they leave ‘getting the gas engineer in’ to their partner because they don't know what questions to ask and fear they are more likely to be conned by cowboy tradesmen. Worryingly, 3 in 5 (67%) women said they didn't feel confident enough to deal with a gas engineer.

True to stereotype, women left taking the car to the garage (40%) and buying garden equipment (28%) to men, feeling more at ease with jobs such as supermarket shopping, deciding on what colour to decorate the house and picking out the furniture.

With unregistered gas fitters doing around 250,000 illegal gas jobs every year, Gas Safe Register is advising women to get to know gas, as it could save their lives.

According to the study, women said they would feel more comfortable taking action on tasks such as dealing with the plumber or gas fitter if they had more knowledge in those areas. So, Gas Safe Register has produced a free factsheet that provides simple tips on how to stay Gas Safe.

For further information, and to download the factsheet go to www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk/toptips
 
Sarah Hill, consumer spokesperson for Gas Safe Register said: “We want to make it easy for everyone to understand gas safety, have the confidence to act on it and avoid risking the safety of their family and their property. We are concerned that so few women feel they have enough understanding of these areas, when it is a simple case of knowing the right questions to ask.”

“All gas engineers have to be on the Gas Safe Register by law. You can find or check a Gas Safe registered engineer in your local area quickly and easily online or by calling our free helpline. When they turn up at the door, don’t let them in unless they have a Gas Safe ID card. Look at the back of their card to see if they are safe to work on the specific gas appliance you need them for. Using an illegal gas fitter can lead to gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. Gas incidents like these killed 18 people in the UK last year and hospitalised a further 310 (Source: HSE Gas Safety Statistics), so it’s better to be Gas Safe than sorry.”

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