News

Today marks the beginning of Gas Safety Week, taking place between 13 and 19 September 2021. Gas Safety Week is an annual safety campaign to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of gas appliances. It is coordinated by the Gas Safe Register, the official list of gas engineers who are legally allowed to work on gas.

Each year thousands of people are injured at home in the garden while out enjoying the nice weather. Watch our video for more useful tips to help keep you and your family safe at home this spring and summer.

Each year over 1.2 million people are injured due to electrical accidents in their homes. As a business, we now complete electrical testing every five years, in all our properties to comply with legal requirements and to keep you and your families as safe as possible. If you receive a letter or phone call to make an appointment, please allow our engineers access to complete this important work so we can ensure you are safe at home.

Our community safety team are supporting West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in raising awareness to keep our tenants and communities safer this year. Due to the pandemic forcing cancellation of organised events, concerns have been raised that this could result in homeowners taking to their gardens for a private bonfire this bonfire night. Community Safety Manager, Gary Lumb said: “We all know that Bonfire Night is a great British tradition and brings with it a strong sense of community spirit which is very much enjoyed within all WDH neighbourhoods. However, this year we must ask all our customers to fully respect the advice and guidance given by the West Yorkshire Fire Service to refrain from having a bonfire in their garden.” He added: “We always want all our tenants, residents and their families to be safe, but also encourage everyone to protect the health and safety of our tremendous emergency services and fully support their work. These are exceptional times, and it is very important that our Fire, Police and Ambulance services are not placed at risk by responding to emergency situations that are preventable. We all hope that activities such as this can return in the way we have always known next year, but in the meantime, please do not have a garden bonfire and help keep you and your neighbours safe.” The West Yorkshire Fire Service said: “We are about to enter a very unusual bonfire period whilst the country is in the midst of tackling a pandemic. We are very conscious of the potential dangers associated with people taking to their gardens to host their own bonfire." They added: "Handling fireworks is best left to the professionals and with public events cancelled, our plea to residents this year is to not risk being injured or having to call on the emergency services or NHS at a time when they are so desperately needed in the collective fight against Coronavirus.”

We want to make sure that your home is dry, warm and free from damp and condensation, especially now as the cold and damp weather is here. For more guidance you can also view our helpful, short films.

We have recently seen a few incidents across the district involving garden fires. Due to the coronavirus outbreak Wakefield Council have taken the decision to suspend the collection of garden waste in order to maintain normal household and recycling waste collections.