The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning households about the dangers of using unregistered gas engineers, following a sharp rise in convictions of illegal tradespeople. The warning coincides with Gas Safety Week, running this year from 14 to 20 September 2026 and now in its fourteenth edition. According to the HSE, 17 people have already been convicted since the start of 2025 for carrying out gas work without being registered with the Gas Safe Register, compared with just 3 convictions in 2022/23 and 4 in 2023/24. Since 2020/21, a total of 34 people have been prosecuted for breaching gas safety regulations.
Forged certificates and dangerous installations
The HSE highlights several recent cases. Alexander Robson used a fake Gas Safe logo on social media and flyers and illegally carried out work at five properties in Blyth, Ryton, Hexham, Winlaton and Newcastle (United Kingdom), despite his registration having lapsed since February 2024. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. One of Robson’s customers, Megan Oliver, told the HSE: “It looked it was such a legitimate company – but it clearly wasn’t”.
In a separate case, Israel Jackson, 56, of London (United Kingdom), was sentenced to twelve months in prison by Croydon Crown Court (United Kingdom) on 4 February 2026. He had issued a fraudulent gas safety certificate and put a boiler back into use after it had been declared “immediately dangerous”. Lee Lancaster, 38, of Ulverston (United Kingdom), was given a twelve-month suspended sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work and a £2,000 fine by Barrow-in-Furness Magistrates’ Court (United Kingdom) on 23 January 2026, after his installation caused three gas leaks in February 2024 and left a family without heating for six weeks.
Why this matters for EHS professionals
Unregistered gas work carries risks that extend well beyond the immediate user: gas leaks, fire and explosions, and carbon monoxide poisoning, which the HSE describes as a “silent killer” because the gas is odourless and colourless. Steve Critchlow, Principal Inspector of Gas Safety at the HSE, stressed that Gas Safety Week is the right moment to reflect on the seriousness of these risks. For EHS professionals responsible for facilities management, contracting installation work or vetting suppliers, the case underlines the importance of verifying trade registrations before commissioning gas installation work, particularly as enforcement bodies are visibly toughening their approach.
The HSE is urging consumers and clients to always check registrations via the Gas Safe Register website, by phone on 0800 408 5500, or by asking to see an engineer’s physical Gas Safe ID card.
Source: Families warned of risk to life from unregistered gas work amid surge in prosecutions of illegal traders, 14 September 2026
