Beach Hut Safety

General safety tips

1. Clear up any potential fuel for unwanted fires (loose timber, paper, bagged waste, etc). Do this inside and outside.
2. Repair any damage to your hut as soon as you can.
3. Safely store gas units, flammable materials and gas stoves.
4. Make sure all cigarettes are properly stubbed out.
5. Keep all lit candles and tealights well away from loose fabrics and always use a proper holder.
6. Never sleep in your beach hut. If a fire breaks out in another hut, it will spread extremely quickly.

Barbecues

1. Always set your barbecue up at a safe distance from your hut.
2. Never take a lit barbecue or gas lamp inside the hut to keep warm – even if it’s going out – as this could result in carbon monoxide poisoning.
3. Be extra careful when disposing of barbecue coals – are they still hot?
4. Wait for a gas barbecue to cool for at least 30 minutes after use before storing.

Are you at risk from carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide is an invisible and odourless poisonous gas, produced when fuel does not burn properly. Each year around 50 people in the UK die from poisoning caused by boilers and other gas appliances that have not been properly installed, maintained or that are poorly ventilated.  Symptoms of poisoning include headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness and collapse.

Always turn the gas off at the bottle when not using appliances and before leaving your hut and make sure gas bottles are removed over the winter. Never leave empty gas bottles lying around the hut area - "empty" cylinders may still contain some LPG vapour and are still potentially dangerous. If you are having any major work carried out to your hut or having it replaced, always remove gas cylinders first as there is a risk that they may not be properly secured whilst work is carried out.  

There are a few basic checks that you can carry out yourself to see if your gas system may need further attention:

1. If any of your burners are burning with a yellow flame instead of a blue flame and leaving soot deposits on the base of kettles and pans, this may indicate that the cooker is not working properly and may be producing carbon monoxide,
2. Check joints in your gas installation with gas leak detection fluid or ammonia free soapy water - if bubbles form around a connection there is a gas leak,
3. Look at your flexible gas hose - is the rubber cracked or worn? Does the date stamp on the hose show it is more than 5 years old - caravan and marine gas safety advice states that flexible hose should be replaced every 5 years and gas regulators should be changed every 10 years. Even if there are no visible cracks, gas can migrate through degraded gas hose. If your gas pipe has no date stamp this means that it is extremely old and should be replaced. The Homestead caravan centre shop in Weeley sells gas hose and regulators.
4. Rubber gas hoses should be attached to regulators using round metal clamps called jubilee clips or worm drive clips. Make sure they are secure but not over tightened as this can deform and damage the hose.

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odourless gas that can cause serious illness and even death. If you are enjoying your hut with your gas heater burning, kettle on, doors shut and windows in place, you may have insufficient ventilation and be at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide alarms are easy to install and are now available with a 10 year battery life.

This information has been put together from various sources dealing with beach hut, caravan and boat gas safety. If you are in any doubt about the gas installation in your hut or the safety of any of your gas appliances, please contact a qualified gas engineer who is trained to deal with LPG (liquid petroleum gas). The large number of caravan sites in the Tendring area means that there are several local firms who specialise in caravan LPG servicing and installation.

1.  Do ensure your hut is in a good state of repair, so not to encourage acts of vandalism. Poorly maintained huts are shown to attract more damage including vandalism to nearby huts.
2.  Do lock your doors with good quality closed shackle padlocks (reducing the risk of it being forced), which should be at least 6cm/2.5 inches wide.)
3.  Do place a solid steel security bar across the door.
4.  Consider removing or reinforcing spindles and balustrades. These features can add to the appeal of beach huts but they have also proven to be extremely vulnerable to malicious damage. Please think seriously about whether to have these features. But if you do, use thick, robust spindles and reinforce them with pieces of wood at the bottom and top.
5.  Do make sure that the fittings for the security bar are bolted through the door and reinforced at the back (inside the hut) with a steel plate with matching aligned holes and use concealed screws or coach bolts.
6.  Do place hasp bolts and solid closed shackle padlocks at the top and bottom of the doors. It will even out the security, strengthening the door and, provided the door is properly shut, will assist in preventing the door from warping.
7.  Do property mark, with your home post code and house number, any items you feel you have to leave inside, although it is better not to leave any items.
8.  Do board up the base of the hut; this makes it difficult for vandals to ignite a fire under it. If a small fire is ignited under a hut without boarding, the air currents will assist fire growth causing severe damage.
9.  Do keep an eye out on neighbouring huts and if you see any damage or problems, contact the local Town Council.
10.  Don’t leave valuables inside. Take them away with you.
11.  Don’t leave combustible or other flammable items inside, such as gas canisters. Take them away with you (including matches).
12.  Don’t leave materials left around the hut that could be used to damage it or other properties.
13.  Don’t leave alcohol inside and if you bring alcohol with you, try not to let people see it in case it leads anyone to want to break in on the off chance that further alcohol has been left on site.
14.  Consider an internal alarm. Solar powered or battery alarms are now available that can react to movement and when triggered can not only emit a loud warning alarm, but can also send an automated text message to your mobile, informing you that someone has broken in.