A HiStory of the Gas Industry

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Something amazing happened on May 16th 1982......................

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I was born!

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Not the same can be said for 24 years earlier that day in 1968!

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That day at not quite gone 6 in the morning an event happened which would change things forever and form the gas industry as we know it today.

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A lady, 56, named Ivy Hodge put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

She lived on the corner flat on the 18th floor of 22, number 90 to be precise.

When she lit that match, a gas explosion, down to a bad/faulty (whatever you want to call it) gas pipe to her cooker blew out the walls to her flat and caused the collapse of one corner of the entire building.

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The Second World War demolished more than 25 % of the homes in West Ham.

September 1945 the War ended and the council began building two and three story houses for the returning soldiers and their families, as well as the ones who had lost their homes from all the bombing.

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Lots of people to home and little time to do it led to prefabricated houses and flats, more specifically in this area, tower blocks.

Tower blocks were good because you could house twice as many people as before per acre (roughly the size of a football pitch) previously 500 people now 1,000.

It was the tallest tower block with 22 floors, 110 flats, and at over 200ft, was the highest building, (which people lived in) built to date.

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It was a Danish system called Larsen Nielsen.

They were Large Panel System buildings.

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They were built using same prefabricated principle as the houses, being that they were pre-made components, put together in factories, therefore saving time and money (labour costs) on site.

At the time of the Ronan Point explosion there were 22,000 Larsen Nielsen buildings around the world.

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Oh, just one thing, these buildings were not designed to be higher than 6 floors.

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The gas leak from Ivy’s cooker and her lighting the gas created the explosion, because of the building’s design, when the explosion hit her kitchen and living room walls, acted like a house of cards, and every flat above and below began to crumble.

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Miraculously, Ivy also survived………. And so did her cooker!

?Others weren’t so lucky!

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In 1970, CORGI (Council for registered gas installers) was formed by British Gas (still a nationalised company, not the brand it is known as now) as a direct response and in 1972 the first ever Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations came in to force, this started and created the standards that we use today.

Appliances, designed, constructed installed had to pass strict tests and checks. A safety device on hobs, hot plate burners and fires weren’t the norm, again, only after trials, error and history are things implemented and learned (so don’t’ be surprised to find an old appliance like this still out there! As long as it passess its’ Regulation 26(9) checks and it safe, it’s still only Not To Current Standards)

CORGI registeration was voluntary until 1991 and then it was made a legal requirement.

CORGI was then working under license to the Health and Safety Executive as the Governing body for gas installers, this was up until 2009.

Whilst working as a gas engineer I have met some (very) knowledgeable and fantastic people working for CORGI and Gas Safe, some who were previous CORGI and now Gas Safe, or others who stayed at CORGI, building their brand, continuing to work as an auditor of works, continuing the good work in a different capacity.

?Gas Safe Register is now the gas registration body (working on behalf of the HSE as the class if persons approved for Gas) but it all of this stems from the events of 1968.

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After 25 years in the industry, learning, working inspection working and teaching, I can say this is why The Gas Safe Register carry out their, regular yearly, bi-annual or 5 yearly, random inspections.

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Don't ever feeling victimised, dont ever by afraid to RIDDOR (The HSE hold amazing and insightful seminars on this, I attended one held by the vastly experienced,?knowledgeable and talented Steve Critchlow not so long ago.

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Above all NEVER by afraid to call the Gas Safer Technical helpline advice or manufacturers technical services.l, even another Gas Safe Registered engineer (after all, two heads are better than one!)

If you have ever thought or decided of becoming a Gas Engineer, then......

With dedication, preparation and the right tranining (of course), you can do anything you want!