Parliamentary Roundtable – Clean Air Strategy Review – Targeting Indoor Air Pollution 12.05.25

Location: Macmillan Room, Portcullis House, SW1A 2JR

Chair: Were Hobhouse MP

Along with other speakers, Stephanie Trotter was asked to give a short talk.

Talk by Stephanie Trotter, OBE, President & Director CO-Gas Safety

I have run the independent registered charity since 1995, helped by other voluntary directors/trustees.
We work to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) and other gas dangers.

We also help victims and their families and work to prevent deaths & injuries from unintentional CO.

Thank you very much indeed for inviting me to speak today. Our aims are simple and haven’t changed much in 30 years. Survivors & families told us stopping deaths and injuries from CO REQUIRES AWARENESS of CO & TESTING for CO.
A home many look perfect, but carbon monoxide can kill or maim for life.

Carbon Monoxide is a deadly gas produced as a result of combustion of any carbon fuel – gas, coal, oil, petrol, diesel or wood. Give the flame enough oxygen and CO2 is produced. Not enough and CO is produced.
CO – 1 atom of carbon to 1 of oxygen. Lethal under 2% in air.
CO2 – 1 atom of carbon to 2 of oxygen. Lethal around 5% in air. I’m not an expert in CO2.

CO injures or kills when it leaks from a faulty chimney or flue – also for example a cooker or heater which emits into the living space.
CO cannot be sensed using human senses – under 2% of CO in air can kill in less than 3 minutes. On HSE website.

Firefighters talking about smoke, which has CO in it, describe three breaths. At the first, you don’t think there is anything wrong, at the second you suspect there might be but by the third you can’t move. Testing you & me – people – survivors, is unreliable because CO leaves the breath and blood quickly, yet continues causing further injury even after the survivor is removed from the CO.
Nor does testing survivors IDENTIFY the lethal appliance.
But you can test for CO in air and identify lethal appliances with a flue gas analyser.
More of that later from Jonathan Kane.

You can prevent CO by proper installation and regular maintenance including chimney sweeping but this is expensive.
Can you rely on a CO alarm? They only cost £15 to £20 – We say NO
Firstly, alarms don’t PREVENT exposure to CO.
     WHO guidelines are no more than 3.5 PPM of CO over 24 hours.
     CO alarms save lives but EN50291 certified alarms don’t alarm until detecting 30 PPM of CO for 2         hours although higher CO will cause an alarm in less time.
Secondly, alarms don’t IDENTIFY the emitting appliance.

What happens next is even worse – the emergency service we call for help has no mandatory duty to test for CO. Why not?

Nor do registered gas engineers have a specific legal duty to test for CO before then after, their work as an impartial check on safety.
That’s why Zoe Anderson, daughter of multi-millionaire Chris Anderson of TED talks, died of CO aged 24 in 2010 in the family home in Bath – The flue had not been connected to her boiler by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer – a simple test would have put this right in seconds.

Ofgem, the regulator, has statutory duties towards raising awareness of CO and towards customers in vulnerable situations e.g. those on the Priority Services Register (sick, old, poor disabled etc.).
BUT we are all are vulnerable to CO, however healthy, wealthy or wise.

Ofgem has recognised this – it’s given £171 million to the gas emergency service for services beyond the meter – so some testing for CO is happening.
But the gas emergency service uses visual signs to decide whether to test for CO …. yet CO cannot be sensed using human senses….
Also, data so far seen by us does not show CO parts per million being recorded.

Consequently, if few homes are tested properly for CO, the medical community think CO is rare – Yet they react when they see PPM of CO written down, saving patients from endless tests, disbelief, misdiagnosis & a waste of NHS funds.

Our 30 years’ experience and university research shows CO is NOT rare.
Two universtiy studies found 20% of households to have 50 PPM of CO and above.
Quite simply, we need tests for CO in homes or workplaces whenever practicable.

CO-Gas Safety is lobbying for 3 mandatory duties: –
1. First – all engineers working for the gas emergency service, performing regular installation, maintenance or gas safety checks must test for CO whenever practicable and record results for public review.
2. Second – all heating and cooking engineers & sweeps of carbon-based fuels must be registered by law as gas engineers.
3. Third – there must be a duty to help survivors & families by finding out why & how CO occurred to prevent exposure to this deadly gas next time.
Now Jonathan Kane will outline how technology has made it straightforward to test for CO & record data

© Copyright 2025 CO-Gas Safety

 

 

Climbs & walk successful! All back safe and sound! Hurrah & congratulations!

It was all very exciting reading about the planned events in England, Wales, Switzerland, Greenland and Tasmania – all events that were to honour Tom Hill, who tragically died of CO aged just 18. These outside activities were also to raise funds for CO-Gas Safety.

As a person who has campaigned & lobbied for safety for over 30 years, I admit I did find Sunday the 4th May somewhat worrying. But Jerry had organised it all perfectly and I was delighted to hear that everyone was safe.

What a brilliantly successful event!

See the fantastic pics at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573851523934

Jerry and I hope Alison and family and friends are all having a bit of a break as that sort of event is exhausting.

Thank you Jerry and Alison very much indeed for organising it. Over £4,500 has been raised for the charity!

We are very grateful indeed.

Stephanie

Tom Hill Memorial Mountain Climb 04/05/25

NEWS RELEASE

Raising Awareness of the Dangers of Carbon Monoxide                                                               

Contact:-           Jerry Hill

                             07716 449657  

                             jerry1hill@outlook.com                                                                         

https://gofund.me/0b8ae3ed

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573851523934&sk=about

 

Stephanie Trotter, OBE, President & Director CO-Gas Safety 

www.co-gassafety.co.uk

Email office@co-gassafety.co.uk Tel. Mob. 07803088688 Landline 01983 564516

Bereaved family raise over £4,000 for charity CO-Gas Safety

Tom Hill died aged 18 on holiday in Scotland in October 2015. He was killed when a faulty portable flueless gas fire released lethal levels of carbon monoxide into a bathroom. Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odourless poisonous gas that can be released by faulty fuel burning stoves (wood, kerosene, natural gas, propane) and fuel burning heating systems (wood, oil, natural gas) and from blocked flues connected to these appliances. Tom’s death was avoidable, the gas fire was faulty and unsuitable for the room. There was a carbon monoxide alarm but when it sounded the wrong steps were taken.

To do something positive to celebrate Tom, a group of his family and friends are climbing Tryfan in North Wales to raise money for CO-Gas Safety -The Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society.

Tryfan is a 917 meter high mountain in the Ogwen ValleySnowdoniaWales.

Tom Hill

Tom Hill was one of a kind, and he loved the outdoors and nature. He had just started at Stirling University where he was studying Aquaculture when he died. He was on holiday in Scotland. Tom’s death was preventable. We want to do something positive both to remember Tom, and to help prevent tragedies like this happening again.

Following Tom’s death, it took years for the case to come to court. Apart from the horror of the bereavement itself, the family was faced with a long battle to get the case to court, and significant costs for legal fees. Now that the end of the process is near, Tom’s family want to work to remember him by helping to improve gas safety.

What is happening?

A group of Tom’s family and friends are climbing Tryfan in North Wales on the 4th May 2025 to raise money for CO-Gas Safety-The Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society. Tryfan is a mountain in the Ogwen ValleySnowdoniaWales. It is one of the mountains in the Glyderau group. It is  917 metres (3,010 feet) above sea level, and  is the fifteenth-highest mountain in Wales. We will be climbing the north ridge.

On the same day other family members who are abroad will be undertaking other mountain challenges:-

  • Tom’s cousin Jess Hold will be climbing Le Dôle in Switzerland. Le Dôle is a 1,677m major focus point in the natural heritage of the Jura, as it is visible from the whole western part of Lake Geneva region.
  • Tom’s cousin Matt Spenceley will be on a steep-skiing trip in East Greenland.
  • Tom’s college friend Macauley Chapman lives in Australia. He’ll be climbing Cradle Mountain in Tasmania on the same day!!!

Who are we fundraising for?

Through Go Fund Me we have raised £4,100 from 114 donors.

CO-Gas Safety – The Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety Society https://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/ . CO-Gas Safety is an independent registered charity that works hard to raise awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) and to reduce deaths and injuries from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning. The charity lobbies for changes, which will help to achieve this, and also helps and advises victims/survivors and families affected whenever they can. This charity is run almost entirely by volunteers and relies on donations.

After Tom’s accident the investigation was very slow. We contacted CO-Gas Safety and they gave us help and advice that really speeded things up. Our hope that is that through these donations, further deaths and life long injuries, including paralysis and brain damage can be prevented.

We believe that if things had been done differently Tom would still be alive. We will be donating all money raised to a charity that works to make gas safety a higher priority.

CO-Gas Safety Charity registration 1048370

Also a company limited by guarantee No 03084435