Energy Bill – Two amendments

See Energy Bill – Two amendments agreed by CO+SAVi put down in the Commons. Baroness Finlay and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath have agreed to take them to the Lords. However, the Lords cannot draft clauses to do with finance. Baroness Finlay has published her own amendments primarily concerning CO alarms. While we support these we do not think CO alarms are the whole answer and strongly believe in prime time TV public health warnings about the dangers of CO with all the fuels, all the appliances and all the premises etc. We are still hoping that the Cabinet office takes its responsibilities seriously and will insist on public warnings as there are warnings by the NHS about things like smoking in cars with children (seen on TV Thrusday 27th June 2013). However, we already know of these dangers from this product of combustion.

Corfu Tragedy

Leeds & West Yorkshire Thomas Cook awarded damages in Corfu carbon monoxide case

A mother whose two children died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Greek hotel said she was “shocked” at a damages payout to the tour operator.

Robert Shepherd, six, and Christianne, seven, of Horbury, West Yorkshire, died at an apartment in Corfu in October 2006.

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Sponsorship for our schools poster competition

Wales & West Utilities, Scotia Gas Networks and Northern Gas Networks have already agreed to sponsor our schools poster competition 2013-2014 which will open on the 1st August 2013 and close on the 31st July 2014. We have never had sponsorship agreed so early! This is a huge help as it gives us more time to advertise the competition.

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Disposable barbecue death warning

Ian Harrison

Ian Harrison is pictured with the 23 disposable barbecues purchased at outlets in Hartlepool as part of the investigation.

Press release  PR16769   13 June 2013.

Issued by Alastair Rae, Public Relations Manager, on 01429 523510.

HARTLEPOOL COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

Disposable barbecue death warning

COUNCIL trading standards officers in Hartlepool are urging people to guard against the dangers of using disposable barbecues following an investigation into the labelling of these throwaway picnic cookers.

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Brancaster Primary School pupils – Carbon Monoxide Awareness poster competition

Original location: http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/education/children-poster-support-for-carbon-monoxide-gas-safety-1-5128467

Children poster support for carbon monoxide gas safety Brancaster Primary School pupils who entered a Carbon Monoxide Awareness poster competition. Front LtoR – Harvey Keeling, Chloe Groom, Sully Wright. Middle LtoR – Jordan Rumbles, Jack Rodwell and Ciaran O’Brien. Back LtoR – Ross Piggott (RP Air Testing Ltd), Headteacher Sarah Bocking and President of The Carbon Monoxide & Gas Safety Society Stephanie Trotter OBE.

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HHIC specifying maximum amount of CO

When a manufacturer has not specified the maximum amount of CO in the flue of a condensing boiler, the HHIC states that the maximum amount of CO must not be more than 350 PPM (Parts Per Million) and the Combustion Ratio is less than or equal to 0.0040.

We would be most interested to receive comments about this (do email office@co-gassafety.co.uk).. CO-Gas Safety considers that this is a retrograde step and that a maximum of 200 PPM of CO is achievable by most manufacturers immediately and a lower amount should be possible soon.

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£75,000 Fine for Carbon Monoxide Death

A builder whose work on his elderly neighbours’ home contributed to their deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning has failed to persuade the Court of Appeal that his £75,000 fine was excessive. The court ruled that a substantial fine was necessary to underline the gravity of such offences.

Mohammed Jamil had been contracted to carry out work on the garage roof at the home of Donald and Rosetta O’Sullivan. In performing the task, he partially enclosed the flue of a gas boiler leaving it in an unsafe condition. That, combined with loose screws in the boiler itself and a faulty metal flue lining, led to lethal gasses feeding back into the couple’s home.  The bodies of Mr and Mrs O’Sullivan, who were aged in their seventies, were found at their home in April 2009.

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House of Lords Event

Very successful event at the House of Lords on the 22nd January to present the prizes of our schools poster competition and to reveal our latest data. Over 90 people attended despite snowy weather and the charity is very grateful for this support. See more on our website under ‘competition’, ‘winners’ and ‘speeches’.