There are many potential risks to individuals’ health that those with health & safety jobs have to monitor, control and investigate and one of these concerns carbon monoxide (CO). Often described as the ‘silent killer’ this substance is odourless, tasteless and colourless and yet it can prove deadly if inhaled in sufficient quantities.
Recently, a number of individuals with health and safety jobs investigated a case involving this harmful gas and found that a local authority had breached the law.
An investigation conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council had failed to renew a contract for the maintenance and annual safety checks of all gas appliances in its 38 properties.
The problem came to light after members of a bridge club using the Westlands Community Centre called the fire service to deal with a suspected gas leak.
During a hearing at Fenton Magistrates’ Court, it was noted that fire fighters found very high levels of CO escaping from the flue in the loft. Sections of the flue had come apart and the gas had built up and started to flow through an open trapdoor into a storeroom off the main hall.
Commenting on the case, HSE inspector Lynne Boulton remarked: “Every year, about 20 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning, invariably due to gas appliances not being properly serviced and checked for safety. Many more become ill with long-term health problems.”
She added that the incident could have been far more serious, particularly because elderly people and children, who are particularly vulnerable to the gas, use the centre on a regular basis.
It is vital that those with health & safety jobs pay keen attention to the risks posed by CO. Around 200 people sustain serious injuries each year because of the gas. Meanwhile, as many of those with health & safety jobs will know, the gas is produced by the incomplete burning of fuel.