Using outdoor gas heaters indoors is dangerous and potentially fatal.

The use of outdoor patio heaters and petrol generators indoors is increasing, yet this particular practice poses a serious threat to health and safety. If the oxygen depletion doesn’t kill you then the carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning most likely will. Carbon monoxide gas is known as a silent killer because you can’t see it, smell it or taste it, and poisoning can be fatal. Victoria’s Director of Energy Safety, Paul Fearon, states:

“If an appliance uses petrol or is attached to a portable gas bottle then the golden rule is that it should never be used indoors.”

We know that some of our church entities are taking this risk especially inside multi-purpose centres where heating effectively is difficult. Consider what would happen if that heater was knocked over, or if the gas tank was leaking, or if it was placed too close to a flammable item? Consider how that might affect the dozens, if not hundreds, of people inside.

If you’d like to know more about the Australian/NZ standard for gas installations, or safer alternatives suitable for heating large indoor spaces we’d love you to call us and speak with our Risk Control officer. You may also like to download our one-page resource on Safe Use of Gas Appliances in Church Venues.

We’re not the ‘heater police’ but we ask you to think about the risk for the sake of a few degrees of warmth.