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From: Paul Clements
To: Stephanie Trotter
Subject: Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps – CO Liaison
Dear Stephanie and Team,
I am writing to introduce myself. Our Chair, Lawson, has asked me to take a position as CO liaison for the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps.
The idea is to build on the sterling work already undertaken by others in our industry, by providing a focal point in and out of the Guild. This role will capitalise on relevant strategic and tactical information to the benefit of Guild members in their daily work, and to provide Guild partners with useful and relevant information that could be more cohesively represented by the Guild, for example in so called ‘Close Call CO Incidents’.
There will soon be a dedicated email address under the Guild umbrella but for now I am using my own business contact points. I am keen to develop this role, particularly at this time of year.
One question I do have is this. Do the collated statistics that I have seen on your website show us incidents by fuel type, in particular, could the stats show deaths (as collated by yourselves) caused by either solid fuel, or in more detail, defined by wood, coal or oil? This would be of particular interest if it is so reportable.
Thank you for your attention,
Paul
Paul Clements
Cleaner Chimneys Chimney Sweeps
www.cleanerchimneys.co.uk
01489 578541 or 07540 841022
• ‘Master’ Member of the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps
• Approved Trader with Hampshire County Council Buy with Confidence Scheme
• HETAS approved
Privacy Statement
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Stephanie received this request and sent some of our graphic charts but also sent on this request to our data officer Jennifer Wood and asked her to give a more detailed response.
On Tue, 2 Nov 2021 at 16:51, jenny@co-gassafety.co.uk
Hello Paul,
My name is Jennifer Wood and I handle the data side of CO-Gas Safety’s work for Stephanie Trotter – she has forwarded me your questions regarding our data and definitions used for our press pack statistical charts.
As she has already stated, we are unable to be as statistically stringent as we would like with our charts and categories, as we are reliant on information provided by the officials and institutions that document these incidents (primarily Coroner’s Offices, but they are given the details by others such as Police, Fire Services, witnesses etc). In more recent years we have been able to ask more questions of the Coroner’s Offices, by contacting them as soon as we are aware of an incident and asking them to consider specific concerns of ours, but for many of the historical cases there can be as little as a few sentences available to us.
I have tried to clarify definitions as much as possible in the notes given below some of the charts, but here are answers to your specific questions:
Room heater – this can include a variety of appliances, and may even include some gas fires that should strictly appear in the ‘gas fire’ category, but without further description from the authorities we cannot be sure of the type of room heater in all cases. It undoubtably includes a large number of Parkray and Rayburn-style solid fuel, oil and gas heaters. It would not intentionally include woodburner stoves or the type of gas heater that is portable and uses a canister in the back for fuel – they have their own categories but, again, some may have been described as just ‘room heater’ in documentation (particularly in older cases).
Solid fuel – as it suggests, this includes any fuel that is not liquid or gas (so no oil, LPG or mains gas, petrol or diesel). It can cover all sorts of combustibles such as coal, anthracite, coke, charcoal, BBQ briquettes, wood, biomass, fuel logs etc
Open fire – to answer your question as to whether a gas fire would ever be recorded as an ‘open fire’ is tricky – I can’t categorically state that it wouldn’t. I can say, however, that all the appliances we currently have in our database that are listed as ‘open fires’ are actually also categorised as ‘solid fuel’. There are 10 such cases, with 11 deaths. I know that one of them was BBQ fuel lit in a wheelbarrow within an enclosed space, which for the purposes of our database was best described as an ‘open fire’.
You are correct to note that many exposures occur where there is no ventilation in the room of the appliance, other than the appliance vent or the chimney. This applies as a risk whatever the appliance and should certainly be included in the training of appliance installers and chimney sweeps. Our most recent case of an open fire death, for example, was in 2017 – there was no combustion air vent in the room containing the open fire, the chimney had not been swept regularly enough and the carbon monoxide alarm that was present was located incorrectly and with batteries removed. Incidentally, this is the only one of our 10 open fire fatal incidents where we have confirmed details of ventilation in the room (or lack of it) other than the chimney. That level of description is unfortunately not given for any of the other older incidents but we do often hear of cases where air bricks or vents are installed and have been covered over to remove drafts, not just with open fires. When victims are trying to stay warm, they often close windows tightly and shut internal doors too (again, not often recorded at a fatal scene as these details are either lost in the panic of a victim being found and treated, or their significance not realised at the time), so air bricks are an essential precaution for ventilation.
Remember that the data we publish relates only to fatal incidents, not exposures where victims have survived. We do keep records of non-fatal cases where we can but we know we only capture a fraction of the actual incidents that occur so we do not publish statistics on these; we use them as valuable examples to learn from.
Oil-fired kitchen ranges – you are correct that these would be listed as an ‘oil’ appliance. You mention paraffin too – we have only two fatalities that we can be sure were caused by paraffin appliances and in both cases they were portable paraffin heaters (one in a shed, one in a polytunnel). These paraffin cases are separated from oil ones in our Fuel Type chart.
You are correct in stating that 30% of the unintentional carbon monoxide fatalities that we had recorded 01.09.1995 – 31.08.2020 were caused by a solid fuel source. Of these, 1% were attributed to Woodburners, 1.5% to open fires, 2.5% to BBQs, and the remaining 25% or so (our published stats are rounded to the nearest %) were distributed between the following: cookers (such as solid fuel Agas), solid fuel central heating boilers (incl back boilers), many solid fuel room heaters and one solid fuel water heater. One case was a bucket of charcoal taken into a vehicle, one was a bowl of charcoal burning in a bowl on top of a kitchen hob, one was described as a ‘coal burning stove’ but sounded very like a camping BBQ – incidents are not always easy to categorise. I would need to spend time on this to get you a breakdown if you really need the individual stats but I suspect that this information is enough for your requirements.
It is worth noting, Paul, that over 75% of our solid fuel cases were more than ten years ago. In other words, solid fuel cases have disproportionately reduced compared to other fuels – our data covers 25 years, but only around 20-22% of the solid fuel cases have been since Jan 2010. Indeed, we have only documented 7 solid fuel fatalities since Jan 2015 (one each from open fire, BBQ, central heating boiler, woodburner, and 3 deaths from 2 room heater incidents). Training must continue to be stringent, however, as we find that once a rate has reduced successfully in one particular fuel or scenario then complacency tends to evolve into a lack of awareness again and the risk returns.
In case it is of interest, since Jan 2015, over half the fatalities we have recorded have been from petrol/diesel appliances.
I hope all of the above helps but please do contact me with any further questions and I will do my best to answer them.
Best wishes,
Jennifer Wood
Data Processing Officer
jenny@co-gassafety.co.uk
Please send any posted documents directly to me at: 2 Tidwell Close, Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6SH
On behalf of Stephanie Trotter, OBE (Mrs)
President & Director of CO-Gas Safety
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There are two versions of this article:-
Good quality outdoor air is vital. But Brits spend around 90% of their time indoors*1. The most important avoidable contaminants of indoor air are the products of combustion, including the silent killer, carbon monoxide (CO).
What is carbon monoxide (CO)?
CO is a deadly gas that can be emitted from faulty cooking and heating appliances powered by any carbon-based fuel that burns. Fuels include wood, gas, coal, petrol and diesel.
CO cannot be sensed using human senses of smell, taste, sight or touch.
Less than 2% of CO in the air can kill or maim in between one and three minutes.*2
CO symptoms mimic those of viruses including Covid-19, so usually GPs don’t even think about CO.
If a survivor’s blood or breath is tested, the CO will usually have disappeared, so testing living people can lead to dangerous false negatives. It’s wiser to test the air the survivor was exposed to and find the source.
Over 3 million citizens are exposed to levels above 50 parts per million of CO in the UK alone.
Extrapolating from respected university research in 2006 and 2011, more than 3 million people are exposed to levels above 50 parts per million (PPM) of CO in their UK homes*3. WHO guidelines for 24 hours are 6 PPM. The known deaths and injuries cost the UK taxpayer £178 million a year *4.
CO causes brain damage including dementia.
Exposure to CO above the WHO guidelines can cause brain damage, including a 1.6 x higher risk of dementia in those exposed to CO*5.
How could CO be proved?
The gas emergency service could relight gas appliances and provide a free sweep test for CO under BS 7967. HSE has recommended testing by the gas emergency service described by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath as a ‘no brainer’, Why won’t HSE take action?
Trials have been undertaken by Northern Gas Networks*6; testing would add under 7 minutes to each visit. Ofgem has the funds to pay for it – to give survivors and their medics confirmed proof.
Why don’t MPs take action?
Because it’s a Catch 22 – to prove CO, you have to prove exposure to CO, which is invisible and cannot be sensed by human senses. Proof and therefore data are virtually impossible. Please watch our 1 minute film on our website about Sue who had carbon monoxide poisoning. Sue’s medics thought she had been taking cocaine!
Survivors say that not being able to prove exposure to CO, even to medics and family, is worse than their life changing injuries. Lack of proof leads to lack of awareness and safety improvements.
121 MPs signed EDM 1032 urging testing in 2007. A safe appliance is energy efficient.
The charity CO-Gas Safety considers that the changes it seeks on behalf of victims/survivors are blindingly obvious and have been for decades. Indoor air contaminated by CO is a worldwide problem.
Surely testing for CO is an easy win for Boris to show leadership at COP26?
References
*1 https://road.cc/content/news/217728-brits-spend-92-all-their-time-indoors
*2 http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/hid_circs/technical_osd/spc_tech_osd_30/spctecosd30.pdf (see Para 74 table 23 page 26).
*3 https://www.co-gassafety.co.uk/about-co/numbers-affected-by-co/
*4 https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmcomloc/50/50iii132.htm
*5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706265/
Stephanie Trotter OBE is a barrister and President/Director of the independent, registered charity, CO-Gas Safety. For more information about CO-Gas Safety please visit www.co-gassafety.co.uk or contact Stephanie via email at office@co-gassafety.co.uk
Also see PDF version here.
Focus this week:
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Last week’s Top Tweet
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Craig Drinkald, Cumbria FRS, with an impressive 9 re-tweets! https://twitter.com/CCfrs/status/1424717209717383175
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Key Assets:
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Hashtags:
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#CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer #CarbonMonoxide #GreatBritishSummer #PackAnAlarm
#HolidayHome #HolidayLet #HolidaySafety #Speak2aSweep #Fireplace #GasAppliance #Cottage @StoveIndustry @ChimneySkills
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Media since last week:
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Yachting Monthly: “Why an activated carbon monoxide alarm may indicate a battery charging issue”
USA: “Carbon monoxide, or “CO” is an odorless, colorless gas that can kill you. How can you keep yourself and family safe? Dr. Hughes explains” https://www.spreaker.com/user/wiba/wwpodcast_2
Argentina: “Two sisters, 26 and 19, were found dead in an apartment with a 23-year-old companion after “inhaling carbon monoxide from a broken boiler.”
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Selection of support:
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Sorcha Holloway (founder of UK Wine Hour): Please re-tweet! https://twitter.com/SorchaHolloway/status/1424737792991678467
Barnsley Council: https://twitter.com/BarnsleyCouncil/status/1424717104197025792
Energy National Action Carbon Monoxide advice page: https://www.energynetworks.org/keeping-you-safe/carbon-monoxide-awareness
Lake District Foundation: https://twitter.com/lakesfoundation/status/1424279348828418050
IGEM: https://twitter.com/IGEMGi/status/1424701776666767364
Project Shout: https://twitter.com/ProjectShoutCo/status/1425105946360098827
National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association: https://twitter.com/NCOAA/status/1426216492153151488
Thank you all!
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Focus this week:
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Campsite risks + signs & symptoms Pack An Alarm – CO-Gas Safety advises an alarm to EN 50291 bought direct from reputable supplier e.g. supermarket or DIY store – more reliable than the Internet. Please don’t forget to get them out of the box and set them up – some need a tab pulled to get the batteries connected.
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Last week’s Top Tweet
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eBay will stop selling black spot CO detectors: https://twitter.com/APPCOG_UK/status/1417785378866671616 |
Dates to note:
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It is now the school holidays for the UK
23 July – 1 August is Love Parks Week! https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/love-parks-week
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Key Assets:
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BBQ safety: COS4S21 Asset Kit > Social Media > COS4S – Barbecue Posts
Alarms: COS4S21 Asset Kit > Social Media > COS4S – Product Social Posts
COS4S ‘Out of Home’: COS4S21 Asset Kit > Factsheets
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Media since last update:
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Gas Engineer Mag: “eBay to halt sales of ‘black spot’ CO detectors” https://registeredgasengineer.co.uk/ebay-to-halt-sales-of-black-spot-co-detectors/
England, Cumbria: “Person taken to hospital after carbon monoxide detected in Whitehaven house”: https://cumbriacrack.com/2021/07/19/person-taken-to-hospital-after-carbon-monoxide-detected-in-whitehaven-house/
USA, Boston: “A Lynnfield apartment building was evacuated due to high levels of carbon monoxide Friday night”: https://whdh.com/news/residents-evacuated-from-lynnfield-apartment-building-due-to-high-levels-of-carbon-monoxide/
Morocco: “Eid Al-Adha: Health Ministry Warns Against Carbon Monoxide Poisoning”: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/07/343511/eid-al-adha-health-ministry-warns-against-carbon-monoxide-poisoning
Broken Arrow family raising carbon monoxide poisoning awareness following son’s death on boat: https://www.fox23.com/news/local/broken-arrow-family-raising-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-awareness-following-sons-death-boat/ST5EXFJIDRAEZPKV65E7GBCW4U/
Safe Boating campaign page: https://safeboatingcampaign.com/co-danger/
USA, Iowa: “Department of Natural Resources is asking boaters to be aware of carbon monoxide poisoning while on the water” https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/dnr-reminding-people-to-be-aware-of-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-while-boating
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Campaign Support (new orgs only):
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Public Health Wales: https://twitter.com/PublicHealthW/status/1415951879859748868
Lake District Foundation: https://twitter.com/lakesfoundation/status/1418843473520828421
FireBlitz & FireHawk: https://twitter.com/fireblitzuk/status/1418912935313879046
Safe Lincs: https://twitter.com/safelincs/status/1416291704051802114
Edu Begins at Home: https://twitter.com/edubeginsathome/status/1418180304666251264
Binley Fire Station: https://twitter.com/WMFSBinley/status/1416369806148841476
Project Shout: https://twitter.com/ProjectShoutCo/status/1418223612146769933
FireAngel: https://twitter.com/fireangelsafety/status/1418209628593135619
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Hashtags and accounts to tag:
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#CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer #CarbonMonoxide #Camping #Campsite #Tent #Caravan #Summer #Holiday #GreatBritishSummer Love Parks Week: #LoveParks, #ProtectParks, #RespectParks
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To mark Maritime Safety Week 2021, which was 5-10th July, Jersey Coastguard staff shared informative videos on the Ports of Jersey’s inaugural podcast channel. They featured three episodes highlighting maritime safety, including an interview with Jersey resident Margaret Jeffery – whose husband died of carbon-monoxide poisoning on board his boat in Jersey in 2017. We were delighted that our own President, Stephanie Trotter, was also invited to contribute to this podcast, as well as Chris Robinson from Jersey Coastguard.
Margaret kindly supports CO-Gas Safety and allowed us to share his story as one of our case studies, which can be found here
The Ports of Jersey podcast can be found here: https://portsofjersey.podbean.com/e/the-dangers-of-carbon-monoxide/
Other Jersey Maritime Safety Week events included a two-day public roadshow to highlight a series of sea-safety messages. the harbour authorities and many others in Jersey are also kindly featuring a competition that CO-Gas Safety have launched for Jersey Young People aged 5-18 years old, details of which can be found here
Please read https://www.streetinsider.com/Reuters/U.S.+regulator+sues+Amazon%2C+demands+recall+of+hazardous+products/18679090.html
This is week three of the #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer campaign!
A special thank you to Barry Sheerman MP for launching the campaign and sharing excellent coverage! https://barrysheerman.co.uk/2021/06/25/carbon-monoxide-safe4summer-campaign/
Thank so much to all those who have been supporting us on social media. There has been some excellent campaign recognition this week, the APPCOG was delighted to see #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer supported by Visit England Biz, the National Care Association and various camping and tourist organisations. This is down to the hard work of all those sharing messages and taking part in supporting activities – let’s keep up the good work!
Please keep using the hashtag #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer and tagging @APPCOG_UK so we can maximise our impact.
You can download the full Asset Kit here: https://www.unitedagainstco.com/cosafe4summer
*NB – on Twitter re-tweets help the campaign more than ‘likes’, this expands the reach of the post so we can engage with more people and organisations. If you are happy to re-tweet please do so!
Focus this week:
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Dates to note:
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25th National BBQ Week from 5 – 18 July (*please note revised date)
July is ‘Boating Safety Month’ with the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association @NCOAA
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Key Assets:
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Correction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK9zlcLyWwA
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Media since last week:
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Barry Sheerman MP’s page, proudly launching the campaign: https://barrysheerman.co.uk/2021/06/25/carbon-monoxide-safe4summer-campaign/
Disney Star Olivia Rodrigo Recounts Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Experience: https://insidethemagic.net/2021/06/olivia-rodrigo-carbon-monoxide-ad1/
Recent incidents USA – Freeport: Four people hospitalised, a carbon monoxide detector found levels as high as 675 parts per million in one area of the hotel: “If you have a (carbon monoxide) emergency, that needs to be a 911 call”
USA – Cleveland: Two men and a boy died from carbon monoxide poisoning aboard a boat on Lake Erie Wednesday evening. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says that gas-powered boats and larger vessels with generators pose a potential carbon monoxide threat to passengers if not carefully vented.
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Stakeholder/other comms
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The Federation of British Chimney Sweeps (FBCS) in association with APICS joins #CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer campaign launch: https://www.apics.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/136/2021/06/CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer.pdf
James the Sweep: https://jamesthesweep.co.uk/carbon-monoxide-safe-4-summer-campaign-is-supported-by-james-the-sweep-in-kent/#more-4518
Camping & Caravanning Club: https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/camping-safety/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/
Thank you all!
Canterbury Medical Practice Advice: https://www.canterburymedicalpractice.nhs.uk/syndication/live-well/healthy-body/stay-gas-safe-this-summer
Summer CO Advice in Canada: https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/carbon-monoxide/summer
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Hashtags:
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#CarbonMonoxideSafe4Summer #CarbonMonoxide #BBQ #NationalBBQWeek (also #NBQW #NBBQW) @NationalBBQWeek #GreatBritishSummer #SolidFuel #LPG #BoatingSafety @NCOAA #BoatsThatTweet #Boat #Summer |
Last Week’s Top Tweet: |
Safety Tips Poster: https://twitter.com/APPCOG_UK/status/1410539258092343297
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SESSION 2 – 11:30 – 13:00 Stream 2 – Carbon Monoxide
Chair – Chris Bielby, Chair of Gas Safety Trust
GISGCO Alarms Enquiry Speaker Laura Fatah
The effect of CO exposure on pregnant women and the unborn child Speaker Hilary Wareing, Director, Improving Performance in Practice (iPiP)
The effect of CO exposure on older people Speaker Beth Cheshire, PhD Student, Faculty of Health and Medicine’s Centre4Ageing, Lancaster University
Title TBC Speaker Dr Julie Connolly, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moore’s University
Why testing for CO matters Speaker Stephanie Trotter OBE, President & Director of CO-Gas Safety
Stephanie will be adding the PPP she gave but meanwhile if you’d rather read it do email her and ask her to send it to you
Email is:- office@co-gassafety.co.uk
For the whole session see Session 2B – Carbon Monoxide https://vimeo.com/561336772/260a0d074d