The Health & Safety Executive has updated guidance to help individuals using and installing gas appliances to operate safely.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has updated guidance to help individuals using and installing gas appliances to operate safely.


Following consultations in June 2012 and May 2013, HSE has updated the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) covering safety in the installation and use of gas systems and appliances (L56).


They affect a wide range of people, from those installing, servicing, maintaining or repairing gas appliances and other gas fittings, to suppliers and users of gas.


The significant revisions made include:


The revised ACOP can be found on the HSE website.


The ACOP was among several that the HSE board agreed would be revised, consolidated or withdrawn in line with a recommendation by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt in his report ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all’.


An ACOP provides practical guidance on complying with the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) or the requirements of goal-setting regulations. ACOPs are not law but do have a special legal status; if the advice in ACOP material is followed in relevant circumstances dutyholders can be confident they are complying with the law.


The changes will make it easier for employers to understand and meet their legal obligations and so reduce the risks of over compliance. Legal responsibilities to protect workers’ health and safety are not altered by any changes to ACOPs.