Chris Jones has over thirty-six years’ experience in the gas industry and has spent the last twenty years working for CORGI, initially as an Inspector within the gas registration department before moving into Technical & Consultancy Services.
The key part of his role is as Technical Safety Manager which involves contract management and provision of technical services to Local Authorities, Social Housing and Housing Associations. He has a regular client base in the North of England and Wales comprising over 25 Housing Associations responsible for the gas safety in approximately 200,000 homes. He manages a team of highly qualified auditors to provide third party quality control auditing services nationwide to clients covering domestic and non- domestic gas, oil and solid fuel services.
Chris commented: “Working with the clients to resolve technical gas safety issues relating to either business gas management operations, polices & procedures, contractor or in- house gas services team provides a challenge at times but is positively rewarding.”
In 2010 Chris achieved a City & Guilds of London Institute Incident Investigation qualification and since then has provided a vital Carbon Monoxide Incident Investigation service on behalf of the gas suppliers. He works with a dedicated team to investigate reported Fatal and Non- Fatal Carbon Monoxide incidents.
“Around 100 reported incidents are investigated each year by CORGI Technical Services for CO related issues,” continued Chris. “Fortunately the majority of incidents are non-fatal. One of my first investigations after qualification included a double fatality resulting from of CO poisoning. It’s not a nice thought to work in someone’s home where only a few of days previously a couple died. The investigation identified a faulty gas boiler due to the boiler being tampered with and the outer case removed. It was found during investigation that the boiler was producing high levels of deadly carbon monoxide passing directly back into the room where the couple were found. It is alarming that the lack of knowledge and experience in this environment can result in an unsafe situation occurring and in this particular case, two people losing their lives. Fortunately the majority of investigations lead to making unsafe appliances safe from further use and it is peace of mind to know when this can be achieved.”
Chris is also actively involved for CORGI in undertaking holiday resort hotel and villa fossil fuel safety inspections on behalf of national tour operators in the UK. This involves inspections at holiday resorts all over Europe and the Caribbean to ensure the fossil fuel appliances providing hot water and heating to holiday accommodation is safe for use. Inspections include both the sun and ski holiday resorts. Chris concluded: “Unfortunately there are no registration or qualification requirements for installing or maintaining gas appliances in many parts of the world unlike in the UK. Inspection within this environment is a positive move by the holiday industry to ensure safety is paramount for holidaymakers. Some locations visited are truly exotic but unfortunately due to a heavily packed itinerary on each trip, it means there’s no time for sightseeing!”