Thirty three percent of people say they are thinking of missing their annual gas safety check – up from 31% last year – according to research carried out by the Gas Safe Register.
Nine in 10 homeowners report being confident they could spot the signs and symptoms of unsafe gas in their homes, and almost all said their home would be up to the challenge if a gas engineer were to knock on their door and do a gas safety spot-check.
But when Gas Safe Register put 2,000 homeowners through its nine-step ‘Gas Safety Challenge’, just four passed the test.
Its challenge quizzed people on nine key things to know, including how flames on gas hobs should appear, flue blockages, boiler error codes and smells, sounds and sights around the home that signal something could be wrong.
Around half of respondents, 55%, were unable to identify where to turn off the gas supply off in an emergency though, and almost half, 47%, couldn’t correctly spot the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Bob Kerr, gas services director at Gas Safe Register, said: “What’s clear from our research is that there’s a misguided confidence amongst the UK public – what they think they know and how that plays out in their homes is very different.”
Homeowners are being directed online to this awareness video to find out more.