Ambitious it may be, appropriate it is not. What Corgi Services Limited do in their own time is none of our business (and the best of luck with that) but they have a separate duty. That duty must remain completely separate and be seen to remain completely separate; The proposal it seems is to drift off topic into areas that might attract revenue from a wider advertising market. Hence we may be bombarded with stuff that ordinarily some of us might prefer to avoid and who knows where it might lead: We can confirm that huge advertising price hikes have already been quoted.

One advertiser has told Gas-News they dismissed sales folk and have now dubbed CORGI, the Council of Really Greedy Imbeciles. Strong stuff but with the silly advertising figures quoted, we cannot blame them. One advertiser we understand has written to Mike Thompson, Corgi’s new CEO about the proposed changes; They are not happy bunnies.

I personally had to take steps a long time ago to stop CORGI passing my name and details to third parties such as telephone directories. Once they obtain your name they can get dug in like ticks on a hound. Aside from the title and date, all covers of TGI include the sentence ‘Essential reading for CORGI registered gas installers’. In our view the reading material should remain just that. Technical features are usually excellent, advertising 100% relevant and I can live with (some of) the other padding but I do not want CORGI or anyone else trying to influence my general way of life.

This matter has actually been timed to perfection and fits in with a Gas-News agenda that is due for imminent launch. That concerns TGI and the ‘Essential reading for CORGI registered gas installers’ claim. We of course agree. TGI is the primary source for update information, yet large numbers of gas operatives never see it from one year to the next. TGI must be delivered directly to the home of everyone who undertakes gas work. As we have said before that is on our to-do list for 2004.

As pointed out by Corgi in their consultation document, they are appointed by the HSE to maintain a register of competent gas installers throughout Great Britain, in line with criteria issued by the HSE. The list of criteria includes:

• Ensure that gas installers on the register are competent.
• Provide gas installers with information, advice and guidance on safe working practices.

Anyone undertaking gas work must be registered with CORGI and prove their expertise. As multi-level certification exists in gas work, expertise has to be proven for each aspect of gas work undertaken. A gas installer who is registered for the installation, repair or replacement of natural gas wet central heating boilers, cannot undertake work on any other kind of appliance unless personally registered for those appliances, including gas fires, cookers, warm air heating and water heaters etc.

Further, it is required that gas installers are re-assessed every five years under the Approved Certification Scheme, to ensure they remain competent. Technical changes occur on a regular basis and it is essential gas installers are kept up-to-date. It is Corgi’s role to ‘Provide gas installers with information, advice and guidance on safe working practices’.

It should be remembered that although Corgi maintain a list of all people (gas operatives) who undertake gas work and satisfy themselves as to the competence of those gas operatives, they primarily register Corgi registered businesses (Appendix One), including sole proprietors.

All Corgi registered businesses receive an initial copy of the Gas Installer magazine when each is published. That is as far as Corgi go in favour of their obligation to ‘Provide gas installers with information, advice and guidance on safe working practices’. Gas operatives therefore who are employees do not receive any update information directly and that must be corrected.

Regardless of your views on British Gas we know from our own sources that their in-service training is second to none. A few other companies may offer some training or access to information updates but our enquiries suggest many gas fitting operatives do not receive any information between the five year ACS renewal cycles. We know some gas operatives who have expressed concern about the absence of information but they are reluctant to engage employers for fear of being perceived as stubborn or fussy. No one should be put in that position.

Consumers, Consumer Groups and Gas Safety lobby groups should be aware that many gas fitting operatives receive Nil information between their five year re-assessments. That is confirmed by Advertising Facts (Appendix Two) on the Corgi website. Having access to a copy of TGI at their place of work is not good enough. Gas work contains a plethora of detail and it is our practice to photocopy relevant pages of TGI and carry that information in a folder as reference material.

It is acknowledged that as in any industry some misguided individuals may ignore good advice but that is no excuse for denying good folk their own personal library of information. The Corgi Essential Gas Safety Handbook is quickly out of date and therefore of limited value in the longer term.

Providing that Handbook in loose-leaf format is long overdue and it could then be easily updated as the need arises. There are professional associations who have been using that format for many years, including the famous Barbour Index that has operated since 1957. That would be (should be) an obvious move in favour of gas safety.

If Corgi proceed with their plan, advertising that we welcome may be lost or buried in advertising that I personally do not want to see and will therefore completely ignore on principle. Advertisers we welcome may be priced out of TGI by markets focused on profit rather than gas safety and that must not happen.

If any other supplements are received not related to the industry, an application will be made by us to the mailing preference service to see if they can intervene to stop Corgi abusing our privacy and their captive audience.

Essentially, this superbly timed issue is modelled around our imminent submission to the Select Committee. Our focus is to ensure that all gas fitting operatives crossing any threshold (including maybe yours) have access to equal core information on gas safety. That is not happening today in 2004.