ROSPA (The Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents) and Gas Safe Charity plan to launch the Be Gas Safe programme designed to see 10,000 families receive a free CO detector (Installer Jan 2012)
The scheme aims to make more people aware of the hidden dangers of CO or carbon monoxide poisoning by providing more information on the simple steps that can be taken to ensure that you, your family, business or commercial premises aren’t affected.
There are some simple steps that can be undertaken to prevent CO poisoning these include the regular servicing of fuel burning appliances, good ventilation and CO detectors.
It would appear that the public at large and businesses are aware of the effects of CO poisoning but the statistics would have you believe otherwise. There are approximately 50 accidental deaths; 200 non-fatal poisonings requiring hospital admission and 4,000 visits to the A & E each year. (Source: Dept of Health)
Reports published by the Gas Safety Trust, the All Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group and CO Gas Safety quoted that the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning are greater than expected.
Gas appliances and flues that are incorrectly fitted, maintained, serviced and have poor ventilation were found to be key causes to CO poisoning.
Despite best efforts and the research undertaken, there is a significant lack of awareness among the general public at large!
The Gas Safety Trust’s annual carbon monoxide report hi-lighted that 48% of the house-holds interviewed did not have their gas appliances checked and as many as 44% of homes have never had their chimneys swept.
The most alarming indicator is the lack of uptake of CO alarms; only 42% of people who were questioned in the report owned a CO alarm and a further 60% admitted to having bought one but had never actually fitted it!
Low level carbon monoxide poisoning is a constant risk to us all becuase the gas is difficult to detect along with the sysmptoms such as headaches which are so common that many people are slowly being poisoned without knowing it!
It’s so simple to install a CO alarm and costs as much as a takeaway caffe latte! More importantly it can prevent you and your family from the affects of CO!
For regular commercial boiler servicing and maintenance call us and book a health check now!
