All in a Day's Work for Gas Engineer Mark

Mark Clifford is a First Call Operative, a gas engineer, and his job to promptly attend gas emergencies to ensure the safety of the region’s gas consumers. Here he tells us about a typical day delivering the gas emergency service on behalf of Northern Gas Networks.

8.15 am
I start work from my home in Chester Le Street by signing on to my laptop. The computerised system is very advanced and as soon as I log in, it looks for the most appropriate job for me by calculating the priority of the job and my current location before allocating my first job of the day.

8.45 am
I arrive on site in Wrekenton, Gateshead, where a member of the public has reported a smell of gas in the pavement. I carry a lot of high tech equipment that helps me to detect even the smallest amount of gas in the air. I also drill test holes in the pavement to establish exactly where the smell is coming from. In this particular case, I have strong gas readings so I request assistance from the emergency engineering team who will dig up the pavement and find the source of the gas escape.

10.30 am
The emergency team have discovered a small fracture in the main and are now replacing the old metal gas pipe with modern more reliable plastic pipe. I put in a request for another job and I am directed to a house in Felling where a smell of gas has been reported.

10.55 am
After only a few minutes in the property, I discover that the smell of gas is coming from a gas cooker that has been left unlit but with the control tap in the on position. It is very important to check that gas appliances are turned off as a build up of unlit gas can have disastrous consequences if it is ignited This could be a naked flame or even an electrical switch or appliance.

11.30 am
United Utilities manages around 37,000km of gas mains on behalf of Northern Gas Networks and covers an area from the Humber to the Scottish Borders and across to Cumbria with a population of 6.7m people. Safety is our top priority and a lot of our work involves replacing old metal gas pipes with more reliable new plastic pipes. This is happening now in parts of Gateshead. Once new pipe has been laid to a property, air has to be purged out of the system before the gas can be pumped in and an important part of my work is making sure that the customer gets their gas supply restored as quickly as possible.

1.00 pm
After lunch, it’s off to a primary school where I am involved in an environmental project jointly run by United Utilities and Groundwork. The project teaches the children the best ways to save energy through practical experiences. This is the second year that I have been involved and I find it very worthwhile.

3.00 pm
Time now to drop into the offices at Doxford Park, Sunderland, where I am given a team briefing on health and safety issues before heading off home at 4.15pm.

As United Utilities runs the 24 hour gas emergency service on behalf of Northern Gas Networks, any one ringing the gas emergency number 0800 111999 can expect an engineer to call immediately anytime day or night. Because of this, I work a late shift every 4 weeks which also includes a call-out rota. You would be amazed at how busy it can be responding to gas escape calls even at 4 or 5 in the morning. It’s a great job though and every day is different and I know that I am doing my bit to keep the public safe.