Tuesday, 4 February 2025
New research has found in the UK has found that around 30 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year, and about 4,000 people are treated in A&E departments. Stephanie Trotter OBE, President and Director of CO (Carbon Monoxide) Gas Safety discusses the key issues.
Top tips to prevent CO in your home:
1. Install all cooking and heating appliances correctly according to the manufacturer’s instructions using properly qualified people. With gas, they must be by law Gas Safe Registered and qualified to work on your type of appliance. Check that your gas engineer is registered and able to work on the relevant appliance. It’s your money and your life. More info: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/ Tel. 0800 408 5500
2. Maintain your appliances regularly according to the manufacturer’s instructions using qualified people. Oil and solid fuel have their own trade associations https://www.oftec.co.uk/ (oil) https://www.hetas.co.uk/ (solid fuel) but no legal requirement to register.
3. Have chimneys and flues swept and checked by a sweep belonging to a recognised trade organisation
4. Ensure adequate ventilation. Don’t block grilles which were put in to ventilate a fire etc
5. As an extra safeguard, buy and fit a CO alarm to EN 50291 from a reputable supplier but make sure you get the alarm out of the package and pull the tab. Take a battery-operated CO alarm when travelling away from home. They are fine in hand luggage in planes.
For more information, please visit https://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/