Gas safety checks and Covid-19: what we’re doing to keep you safe

By law, and for your own safety, we must carry out your annual gas safety check. It’s your only real protection against the silent killer, carbon monoxide.

We write to all tenants first to let them know when their safety check is due. We know that some people will be nervous about letting visitors in at the moment, so we wanted to tell you more about the things we’re doing to do the work safely.

People who are shielding or have symptoms

If someone in your household is shielding (meaning they are at high risk of getting seriously ill from Covid-19) or has coronavirus symptoms, please let us know. We will rearrange the visit for a time when they are no longer self-isolating. In these cases, we will give you a carbon monoxide detector to help you feel safe for the time being. However, it’s still vital for us to carry out the safety check as soon as it’s safe to do so. We have to by law to keep you and your neighbours safe from the threat of gas leaks or explosions.

If you are not shielding or do not have symptoms 

We understand that you may feel letting a gas engineer into your home is a risk, even if you’re not shielding or you don’t have symptoms. Please be assured that Northwards, Manchester City Council and its contractors are following the latest guidance to balance gas safety with the serious health risk posed by Covid-19.

Carbon monoxide is so dangerous because you can’t smell it. That’s why it’s called “the silent killer”. People die each year due to carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty gas appliances like fires and boilers. This is why gas safety checks are so important and why, by law, we must take all reasonable steps to make sure we do them.

Mears – who carry out our gas safety checks – have put steps in place for different situations to make sure the work is done safely. All engineers have been trained to keep social distancing and practice good hygiene, wiping down surfaces and using hand sanitiser. If no one in the household has coronavirus symptoms, the engineer is not required to wear a mask. But if, for example, an engineer has to carry out an emergency repair in a household where a tenant does have symptoms or is shielding, the engineer will wear full PPE.

Your safety

Please rest assured that we are taking the issues relating to the virus extremely seriously and we expect our contractors to do the same. Northwards and Mears are following the national guidance from both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Gas Safe.

If you would like more information

Gas Safe Website:

Covid-19 advice and guidance (Gas Safe Website)

Guidance for landlords (Gas Safe Website)

GOV.UK:

Guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities (GOV.UK)