The Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society

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CO-Gas Safety - The Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society
By Stephanie Trotter, president of the Society.

We are an independent registered charity with cross party support at the House of Commons and European Parliament. We were founded by Molly Maher and Nigel Griffiths, MP. CO-Gas Safety was launched at the House of Commons on the 25th January 1995 to work to try to reduce accidents from Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning and other gas dangers. We lobby for changes, which will help to achieve this. We also help and advise victims whenever we can.

I became involved through meeting Molly Maher, who had lost her son, Gary, through CO poisoning in Tenerife. Molly's daughter, Sheree was confined to a wheelchair, as a result of the same incident. I had been campaigning for children's activity holiday centres to be licensed. (Our son, Alex, was injured at one and had to have an operation for a clot on the brain. Luckily he recovered completely and now has a 2:1 degree from Southampton University (Philosophy)).

I am a barrister who has practised and has also lectured at the Inns of Court School of Law for nine years, (postgraduate course - final year of the Bar Exams). I knew nothing about CO poisoning when I started. Hardly any bodies would talk to us or help us, so I learned from the victims and their families. The same stories recurred again and again.

Quite quickly, I had compiled a list of aims and objectives that were prepared in February 1995 for our constitution. It is depressing to read these now and find that so few are fulfilled and so many are still extremely urgent. However, there is now a British Standard for CO detectors, and more or less, registration for individual gas operatives. We have also published our own data of CO deaths and incidents. But there are still objectives that are unfulfilled, for example that landlords be licensed, and that no household be supplied with gas, without proof of service.

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