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| SAFETY ATTITUDES AND EMBARRASSING PREDICAMENTS
REVEALED IN NEW SURVEY BY CORGI |
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| Date:
29/09/03 |
Author:
Linda North |
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Britons are more concerned with having a good time than taking care of safety, and there are gender differences when it comes to the predicaments people find most embarrassing, according to a new survey by CORGI, the gas safety watchdog. The survey results are published at the launch of CORGI’s Carbon Monoxide awareness campaign on Monday.
Good sense or good times?
Britons would be more likely to holiday at least once a year (56 per cent) than they would be to take care of safety precautions such as having their gas appliances (48 per cent) or the car serviced (53 per cent) annually, even though almost all (98 per cent) know that Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a deadly gas that can be emitted from faulty gas appliances. Less than half would have gas appliances serviced every year, but CORGI’s gas safety advice is to have gas appliances checked ANNUALLY.
Top choice for spending a sum of £40 was a meal or evening out (63 per cent), while spending the money on safety measures such as getting gas appliances serviced (7 per cent) or buying a new car tyre (5 per cent) is least likely, and even trails behind cosmetic home improvements such as flowers for the garden (15 per cent) and paint to spruce up the house (11 per cent) as a priority.
Dodgy haircuts and gaping buttons cause red faces.
When given a list of situations, the research reveals gender differences over what is considered most embarrassing.
Men (18 per cent) are twice as likely to be embarrassed by sending a meal back in a restaurant than women (8 per cent). Women (38 per cent) are most embarrassed to tell a hairdresser they are unhappy with a haircut, while men (29 per cent) are most likely to be red in the face when having to tell a stranger that their fly or blouse is undone.
Thankfully, very few would be most embarrassed at turning a tradesman away because of a lack of ID (5 per cent).
Who do you trust?
Respondents were asked about their attitudes to professionals.
More people claimed that they would exclusively employ a professional for fixing the gas cooker (56 per cent) than they would to fill a tooth (31 per cent). However, as it is against the law for businesses in Britain to do gas work unless they are CORGI registered, it is perhaps surprising that only just over half would exclusively use professional help with gas.
When it comes to finding a professional tradesperson, most (73 per cent) rely on a friend or neighbour for a recommendation rather than check the internet (7 per cent), local paper (5 per cent), trade body (9 per cent) or telephone directory (6 per cent).
Policemen (70 per cent) come top of the list for being taken at face value, whereas cable salesmen and gas installers are most likely to be asked for ID. CORGI’s advice is to ALWAYS ask a gas installer for his CORGI ID card to make sure that he is qualified to do the gas work you need.
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