Gas Safety
Dear Belfast City Council,
We are glad to see an attempt to deal with the dangers in hospitality businesses and have the following requests under Freedom of Information request,
1. Previously Belfast City Council replied to me that they do not analyse any of the CP42 forms provided by Business operators. Does the council intend to analyse ones collected this time and publish the true condition of premises instead of concealing their failings? We would expect to see the following published,
No Name for premises.
Categories being detailed as follows in line with Gas Engineers inspection as a percentage of total reports returned,
Quantity of businesses requested to provide CP42's
Immediately Dangerous
AT Risk
Not to Current Standards
Compliant with Gas Safety Standards
Failure to analyse to understand the risk and target action to improve safety would be a grave failing by a public employees.
2. Given that at the time of my previous request the council claimed that they were not acting on the previous reports gathered from businesses but then a Senior Belfast Council EHO and I quote,"We are following up on failures." I trust that the Belfast City Council can now provide the original request to see the true condition of Commercial Catering Installations at the time of the Clay Oven Explosion.
3. Given that some premises continued to operate during Covo19 can you please provide details on the number of CP42 certificate collected during 2019, 2020, 2021 by the council to insure that the employees were kept safe. Just like cars these installations have the legal requirement to be maintained and it is the councils responsibility to see it is safe.
4. Now over 4 years since the Clay Oven exploded can the council release the investigation results for the incident please?
5. How much did the Clay Oven Explosion cost the Belfast rate payer? Please provide costs for as follows,
Structural Steel Work manufacture and Erection?
Council Staff wages in dealing with the incident?
6. Is the Council also requesting CP44 for mobile catering vendors who operate within Belfast City Council areas and Council properties?
7. Is it now a 4 year(leap year programme) to secrunise Commercial Catering gas installations as opposed to the annual requirements?
8. Whilst the Council is focused on Commercial Catering as the knee jerk reaction to the Clay Oven incident they are also responsible for the Gas Installations covered by CP17's in factories, schools, council offices, Student accommodation, Body shops, powder coating retail including brand new extensions some of which have been immediately dangerous in NI, will the council also be checking these? Previous installations have been found to be leaking products of combustion, pipe 1/2 wall thickness lost due to corrosion, skipping manufacturers specified maintenance.
9. Catering operators regularly present second hand equipment to engineers without instructions, with unreadable data badges, incomplete and unsafe but these appliances despite this are still being installed. The council is aware of a regular offender as are other councils and despite reports from other Council EHO's Belfast has failed to bring them to task and allow them to continue to supply unsafe equipment, why?
10. In the Year 2017 August 8th to Year 2018 August 8th how many CP42's commercial catering inspections did Belfast City Council request and how many were received?
Yours faithfully,
R King
Dear Belfast City Council,
I am writing to remind the Council that they have not replied to the Freedom of Information Request.
I should have received the information requested by the 4th of October 2022. Being a reasonable person and trying to prevent further gas incidents and save rate payers of Belfast having to fork out to prop Blasted buildings whilst the dangerous operaters walk away Scot free I would be happy to receive all the information by the 14th October 2022.
Should I not receive the complete data I would then have to contact the ICO to investigate and consider contacting police for Miss Conduct in Public office.
Yours faithfully,
Robert King
Dear Mr King
Further to your freedom of information request regarding ‘Gas Safety’,
please see attached correspondence.
Regards
Mark McGovern
Senior EHO
Health and Safety Unit
Belfast City Council
Tel. 02890 320202 x3297
Mob.07713 684708
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Dear Mr King
The Council had hoped that it would be in a position to respond to your
request however due to absence as a result of staff illness, this has not
been possible. I apologise for this delay and thank you for your patience
in this regard. I wish, however, to assure you that your request is
receiving attention and it is envisaged that you will receive our reply by
4th November 2022.
Regards
Mark McGovern
Senior EHO
Health and Safety Unit
Belfast City Council
Tel. 02890 320202 x3297
Mob.07713 684708
For information on how Belfast City Council may use your personal data
visit: [1]www.belfastcity.gov.uk/privacy
The information contained in or attached to this message is intended only
for the people to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, storage,
disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited.
This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you
have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by using the reply
facility in your email software and then delete the email from your inbox.
The contents of this
message do not represent the expressed view of Belfast City Council unless
that is clearly stated. Belfast City Council cannot accept liability in
the event that the
onward transmission, opening, or use of this message and/or any
attachments adversely affects the recipient's systems or data.
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Dear Mr King
The Council had hoped that it would be in a position to respond to your
request however this has not been possible. I apologise once again for
this delay and thank you for your patience in this regard. I wish,
however, to assure you that your request is receiving attention and it is
envisaged that you will receive our reply by 28th November 2022.
Regards
Mark McGovern
Senior EHO
Health and Safety Unit
Belfast City Council
Tel. 02890 320202 x3297
Mob.07713 684708
For information on how Belfast City Council may use your personal data
visit: [1]www.belfastcity.gov.uk/privacy
The information contained in or attached to this message is intended only
for the people to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, storage,
disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited.
This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you
have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by using the reply
facility in your email software and then delete the email from your inbox.
The contents of this
message do not represent the expressed view of Belfast City Council unless
that is clearly stated. Belfast City Council cannot accept liability in
the event that the
onward transmission, opening, or use of this message and/or any
attachments adversely affects the recipient's systems or data.
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Dear Mark McGovern,
I am a patient person but the continued failure to produce a reply to my FOI is shocking.
As a Gas Engineer we are endangered every day we go into commerical catering and production premises, no permanent ventilation, bypassed interlocks, gas leaks, safety devices removed or disabled. It’s usually the Council Buildings are the most dangerous.
Most engineers have given up trying to apply the unsafe situations guidance as it results in non payment, physical and verbal abuse and there is no support from the enforcing body the councils.
The failure of council staff to police annual inspections and maintenance required by law enable installations to fall into serious disrepair. No records kept of who is meant to have been in and maintained the equipment usually indicates operators playing gas engineer purchasing parts locally and bodging them into appliances, imported equipment from Asia with no safety devices, endangering their staff.
The business of sub standard pieced together catering equipment with No legible data badges, no instructions makes our job Russian Roulette and if something happen you will go after the engineer not the operator, Clay Oven. Belfast City Council has history or a repeated offender but never dealt with the issue properly. Even other councils know of and have records of incidents with equipment from this supplier who continues to operate in Belfast area.
The Gas Regs are ignored even when HSENI and Council officials attend most recent example Ormeau Road, contractor working out of scope, tried to lure in qualified engineers to sign off dubious work, a company from South Down attends and issues a cert for work they have not done and responsible bodies take this and walk away leaving defects. That’s not how Gas Safe is meant to work but appears to be the case in NI!
It’s clear the council has lost any control and work with blinkers fitted to simply do a box ticking exercise to cover failings, how long before NI has, Cresslough incident?
I am raising concerns to improve safety as what we see on a daily basis is scares us to death. I accurately predicted the Clay Oven incident in a meeting with HSENI originally refused to attend until ordered to by the Permeant Secretary to Mr Morrison who didn’t act until after the explosion and it appears the councils are doing the same.
It’s clear the exclusion of the 2nd biggest stake holder in the Gas Industry after the general public at the Gas Safety Working group chaired by HSENI is having serious impact on gas safety.
I will continue to collate and document with others the failings so when it happens and its soon we can present to the court the failings and efforts made to prevent such incidents.
I now request an internal review on the disfunctional actions of Belfast City Council.
Yours sincerely,
Robert King
Dear Mr King
I refer to the email sent to Mr McGovern on 14 November 2022, in reply to
his email to you on 14 November 2022, advising you that the Council was
not in a position to issue a response to the request for information you
submitted on 5 September 2022.
In your email of 14 November, you have requested an internal review on the
‘disfunctional actions of Belfast City Council’.
It is unclear from the contents of your email if you are requesting an
internal review in relation to ‘The failure of council staff to police
annual inspections and maintenance required by law enable installations to
fall into serious disrepair’ or if you are requesting an internal review
of how the Council has dealt with your request for information.
Therefore, I would be obliged if can confirm what it is you a requesting
and internal review of.
Regards
Moya Sheridan
Information Governance Unit
Belfast City Council
The information contained in or attached to this message is intended only
for the people to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, storage,
disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited.
This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you
have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by using the reply
facility in your email software and then delete the email from your inbox.
The contents of this
message do not represent the expressed view of Belfast City Council unless
that is clearly stated. Belfast City Council cannot accept liability in
the event that the
onward transmission, opening, or use of this message and/or any
attachments adversely affects the recipient's systems or data.
Dear Mr King
Further to your freedom of information request regarding ‘Gas Safety’,
please see attached correspondence.
Regards
Mark McGovern
Senior EHO
Health and Safety Unit
Belfast City Council
Tel. 02890 320202 x3297
Mob.07713 684708
For information on how Belfast City Council may use your personal data
visit: [1]www.belfastcity.gov.uk/privacy
The information contained in or attached to this message is intended only
for the people to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, storage,
disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited.
This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you
have received this
email in error please notify the sender immediately by using the reply
facility in your email software and then delete the email from your inbox.
The contents of this
message do not represent the expressed view of Belfast City Council unless
that is clearly stated. Belfast City Council cannot accept liability in
the event that the
onward transmission, opening, or use of this message and/or any
attachments adversely affects the recipient's systems or data.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/privacy
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