A leading charity is calling for new legislation to make it compulsory for gas installers to be equipped with carbon monoxide alarms and flue gas analysers, as figures show poisoning by the toxic gas has reached 622.

Independent registered charity CO-Gas Safety says the figures are 'incredibly worrying', and that there needs to be industry-wide change to protect installers and homeowners and to put an end to the needless deaths.


Stephanie Trotter OBE, president of CO Gas Safety, said: “We are calling for the gas emergency service to carry and use equipment to test gas appliances for CO, as was recommended by the Health & Safety Commission (now Executive) in 2000. The Gas Emergency Service has no equipment to do this. How can anyone be safe until the CO has been traced and the particular appliance emitting it cut off?


“Sending a gas installer into a property without the correct equipment is like having a radiation emergency service without Geiger counters, or asking a mechanic to do an MOT purely by sight – but with potentially fatal consequences.”


The charity has unveiled 16 years of its data collected on deaths caused by the lethal gas. Their figures show more than 600 people have died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the last 16 years – most in their own homes. There have been 622 tragic deaths and 4,148 near misses, 379 of which were found unconscious, caused by unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning.


The dangers faced by installers was recently highlighted when Matthew Nixon, aged 22, a registered gas installer and apprenticed from the age of 16, died from CO poisoning while using a petrol generator in December 2010.


In the last few weeks it has also been reported that a woman in Cleethorpes has died from a suspected CO leak, two people have been treated for CO poisoning in Peterborough, a father and two children originally from Salford and a mother from Chesterfield have died as a result of CO poisoning, and three children and six adults have been treated in hospital after a carbon monoxide leak in a block of flats in Ealing.


Scotia Gas Networks, currently the only distributor to make PAMs compulsory for employees, is backing the charity.


Denis Kerby, from Scotia Gas Networks, said: “We’re delighted to be working so closely with CO-Gas Safety as it seeks to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by CO. Gas safety is a big priority for us, which is why we decided to equip all our emergency staff with PAMs so when in customers’ homes, they can potentially save lives by alerting them to the presence of CO.


“This is one of many initiatives we have taken to tackle CO dangers, and we look forward to seeing our partnership with CO-Gas Safety continue into the future.”


Trotter added: “Being a deadly gas which cannot be sensed by smell, taste, touch or hearing, it is vital that anyone working in an environment where they may face potential exposure has adequate protection. Action needs to be taken by industry and Government to stop these avoidable tragedies.”


 


More information about CO-Gas Safety can be found at www.co-gassafety.co.uk.