As can be seen, the number of deaths from CO (carbon monoxide) is of major concern. This is particularly the case for student accommodation, where lack of maintenance has been identified as the cause behind a number of the incidents, where unscrupulous landlords did nothing to protect their new tenants.

Often in examining the background to the reasons for fatal incidents at rented accommodation used by students it was found that air vents in the walls had been blocked up, possibly by the students themselves, in an attempt to conserve heat inside the room. However this led to the accumulation of carbon monoxide to excessive levels.

Typically most gas appliances will emit something in the order of 0.0005% - or 50 ppm (parts per million) when it is working correctly. We can typically endure this sort of exposure with no apparent toxic effects. However if the exposure should rise to 200-ppm symptoms can include headaches and by the time the exposure reaches 400 ppm we can expect to feel nausea after some 1 to 2 hours.

Should the exposure level increase to 800-ppm collapse and unconsciousness could be expected after 2 hours. If the exposure was as high as 3,000 ppm it could become fatal in as short a period as 15 minutes, whilst exposure at 12,000 ppm would bring the time for this effect down to 1 to 3 minutes.

The speaker indicated that one set of tests which were undertaken inside a caravan had to be stopped quite rapidly as the level of exposure was putting the testers at risk due to the high exposure levels being experienced.

Currently statistics show a figure of some 30 per year to die from carbon monoxide poisoning, but it is suspected that the actual figure is much higher. Unless it is suspected and blood samples are taken within the first 4 hours after death to make the necessary tests, the evidence disappears and as such the actual reason for death may not be identified.

Serious injury incidence.

Over the same three-year period as considered for the fatal incidents, there were some 334 persons who were reported to suffer from serious rather than fatal injuries. The speaker then compared the ratio of fatal to serious incidents for various causes in one year.

Whilst the figures for Flue and Behaviour (which could be turning the gas on and forgetting to light it, etc) show an almost two to one ratio, one of the speakers concerns was the high figure of ten to one for unknown causes for the incidents.

The reasons for the number of incidents of bad flues, poor maintenance and installation, etc revolved around the problem of trying to get people who could do the job properly. One local Council is now considering use of its own employees rather than using contractors who they proved were not doing the jobs that they were claiming to do.

Typically the incidents occur during November, December and January, when the weather is cold and the windows will be shut to conserve heat.

The major offender in terms of the type of appliance is the basic, simple old fashion fire – vented through a standard chimney style vent. Here the basic problem can be as simple as a bird building a nest on top of the chimney outlet and preventing normal flue gas escape. Simple annual maintenance checks should identify these issues before they can become fatal.

The major suffers being the elderly – those over 80 years of age

The high-risk locations are flats; rented accommodation and often the cheaper end of the market

• Annual gas checks of appliances and flues
• Records of safe installations and servicing
• Gas check as part of house transactions (as you have drains checked)
• Role and response of emergency service providers (Transco) – not just to turn it off when its not correct, but perhaps they should do a little more to correct the simple issues.
• Use of flue gas analyzers – The simple smoke test does not identify shortfall and could be different on two consecutive days
• Use of CO alarms – there are thought to be problems where these could be considered as the indicator that tells when a service is needed – this could be too late.
• DIY gas installation and maintenance – The professional DIY'er can do work in his own home, but he must still be competent to do it. To do this some people considered the sale of gas fittings to the public should be banned, but the speaker did not hold this point of view personally. The speaker had examples of bad DIY installations which included =

• They should be Corgi registered
• Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme for individual operatives
• Banned working by non-registered installers

On this last issue it was a sad fact of life that if a fitter gets caught undertaking gas fitting and is not registered he can be fined - £200. Some are finding it cheaper to pay the fine every two years or so when they get caught rather than to get registered due to the costs involved in doing so.

There are currently some 96,000 nationally registered fitters, in 5 years time it is estimated there will only be 66,000. The 30,000 shortfall is put down to more and more of the original fitters (ex British gas trained) getting to retirement age and too low a current intake to counter the shortfall. The British Gas Board has recognised this but is now embarking on a programme for apprentices where the original 3-year course is being fast-tracked into a one-year period. Time will tell if this is practical when you consider the level of assessments, which they will need to meet to become ACS Accredited.

The speaker then attempted in a very short period to explain some of the involved conditions, which must be faced by fitters to become accredited. Some old style certificates issued as ACoPs, which were valid for 5 years, could be unsuitable as basis for the new style accreditation as they were not truly "competence" based which the latest ones are.

Domestic fitters could face some 8 different assessments covering: -

The list and conditions for Commercial gas fitters is even more involved and complex and a colleague of the speaker had indicated that he felt there were now some 220 ACS Assessments which could be taken for gas fitting accreditation in one form or another

The speaker indicated that March 2003 would be ‘crunch’ date for a number of gas fitters – it being the date when their current ACoP tickets will finish and they will need to go for re-qualification. CITB are currently estimating that some 40% of the current gas fitters will either not be able to gain access to the new testing centers or will fail the new ACS Assessments

A lively question time followed and the chairman voiced a vote of thanks and presented the speaker with a small token of appreciation on behalf of the members

9.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Members were reminded that the next Branch meeting had been set at:

With the topic being

Miss Lin Bunten , SEPA, Stirling

Members were reminded that the first Proposed District meeting had been set at:

With the topic being

Steve Sole, Lothian and Borders Police

10.0 CLOSURE

The Chairman thanked all for their attendance and contribution and bade them a safe journey homeward; then closed the meeting apologising for the lack of tea but encouraged the Members still to mingle.

Christopher E White MBE FIOSH,RSP             Brian A Pill FIOSH,RSP