This week Mechline has joined forces with leading spare parts supplier First Choice in order to pledge their joint support for Gas Safety Week, running from the 16th to 22nd September.
Gas Safety Week provides a platform for multiple organisations across the UK to work together to raise awareness of gas safety, and together Mechline and First Choice want to remind the food service industry of the dangers of poor quality and poorly maintained gas appliances, which can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
The foodservice and hospitality industry has a responsibility to keep staff and customers safe from the dangers posed by gas appliances. It is imperative that foodservice operators make sure that their gas appliances are safety checked every year and serviced regularly, also, that the person employed to do the work is Gas Safe Registered and therefore not working illegally.
First Choice takes pride in being home to specialist training division, First Choice Training, which delivers professional training courses and assessments under the Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme for Gas Fitting Operatives (ACS) (certificates of which are accepted by Gas Safe Register). The ACS ensures that individuals are assessed against a set of national criteria based on current standards, best working practice and technology. First Choice Training courses and facilities are specially designed for catering engineers and technicians who wish to broaden their knowledge of service and maintenance with commercial catering equipment.
Poor quality gas hoses can be just as dangerous as poorly maintained ones, and this is why Mechline recommend Dormont gas hoses – the only commercial gas hose to carry the BSI kitemark. For over 21 years Mechline have been safeguarding the BSI Kitemark for their Dormont gas hoses, as it is the most recognised symbol of continuous quality and safety. It is so important as it signifies the presence of ongoing quality testing, rather than just one sample complying on one original test date (as it the case with other gas hoses on the marketplace, which only comply with the BS669 Part 2:1997). Mechline carries out all assembly of Dormont gas connectors to suit the UK’s own specific market and technical products, and in upholding the Kitemark Mechline maintains a rigorous audit testing process at their factory, testing every hose and quick disconnect to the high specification set out by BSI.
Julian Fisher, Marketing & Development Manager at First Choice, comments: “First Choice, like Mechline, support continuous improvement and quality, as recognised in our ISO 9001 certifications. We are focused on the development of Gas Safe training courses and providing new innovative products that enhance gas safety in the workplace. Mechline’s Dormont gas hoses are widely regarded as the safest, strongest and most trusted gas hoses, and are a popular choice among engineers as their quality withstands the stresses of a commercial kitchen”
To view Mechline’s full range of Dormont gas hoses visit: www.mechline.com/gas.
To view First Choice’s ACS training courses visit: https://www.firstchoice-cs.co.uk/training-categories/acs-gas-qualifications/; and for its choice of Mechline spares and equipment: https://www.firstchoice-cs.co.uk/manufacturers/mechline/
