This is the final week of the APPCOG summer carbon monoxide campaign.
The bank holiday is coming up so we ask you to take special care with regard to BBQs, gas lights (e.g. in tents or boats) and exhaust fumes from cars, lorries etc. and particularly from generators. Don’t ever allow fumes from generators to spill into tents – we’ve recorded a death from that.
Please don’t put a used BBQ in a tent to ‘tidy up’ or prevent tripping. It may look out and be cold to the touch at the top but there may be embers still active inside. We’ve recorded a death and serious injury from that. Try to find some way of disposing of it safely. We suggest putting it in a bowl and damping it down with water to make sure it’s completely out but even then, be careful disposal doesn’t cause any problems.
Lastly, if you haven’t already done so, please arrange a maintenance visit for your carbon fuelled appliances e.g. gas boiler, cooker, fire etc. With gas the engineer must by law by Gas Safe Registered. Check the engineer on the Gas Safe Register. See https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/
Please have chimneys & flues swept and checked.
Ensure adequate ventilation to make sure that there is enough oxygen at the flame to prevent carbon monoxide in the first place.
Well maintained appliances with clean and clear flues are not only safer but are more energy efficient.
As an extra safeguard, please buy a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm to EN or BS 50291. Please get it out of the box and read the instructions about how to get it going and where to put it. Battery ones are easy to set up and last about 10 years. We recommend ones with sealed batteries so you are not tempted to take them out and give them to someone who needs a battery and then forget to replace them.
If your CO alarm alarms with a loud noise similar to a smoke alarm, please DON’T IGNORE IT. CO alarms are set to alarm at a level you should not ignore – please get out of the house and ring the gas emergency number 0800 111999. The gas emergency service doesn’t test the air or appliances for CO as standard (although Cadent has undertaken about 300 investigations into CO for vulnerable customers) but they will turn off the gas, open the windows and doors (if you haven’t already done so) and make sure you are safe.
We hope you’ve had a great summer but we want you to have a safe and healthy autumn and winter too.