Today, the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! Campaign has published worrying new research that shows that at least 35 million people across Great Britain are still at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Despite 81% of people knowing that carbon monoxide can kill, just 4 in 10 (39%) say they have carbon monoxide alarms in their homes. No doubt fewer still would have something like a papr respirator in their home, should they ever need to re-enter a space with a dangerous level of carbon monoxide in it.
This figure is low, but research suggests the real figure may be even lower – with some studies putting the number of homes with alarms at just 1 in 10*.
As carbon monoxide has no taste, smell or colour, the only way to detect it is with an audible alarm that sounds when the gas is present. The research also uncovered a concerning amount of confusion over which alarms to use – 42% of those without carbon monoxide said this is because they have a smoke alarm in their homes.
For more information, please visit the Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed! Website or contact the team at [email protected].
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* In a study published by Liverpool John Moores University in May 2012, firefighters conducted checks at 22,182 properties across Merseyside. 90.2% of the properties did not have carbon monoxide alarms.
Five steps to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning
- Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in your home that sounds when the gas is present. This will only take a few minutes and should be done in a central location in the house. The alarm can be fixed to the wall at head height or placed on a table, bookshelf or shelf. Further details are at: www.co-bealarmed.co.uk.
- Have fuel-burning appliances serviced annually by a qualified and registered engineer?
- Don’t block ventilation and have chimneys swept at least once a year.
- Know the main symptoms: headaches, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, collapsing and loss of consciousness. Keys signs are if symptoms clear up when you are away from home and come back when you return or if other people in your household experience similar symptoms.
- Watch out for soot or yellow/brown staining on or around your appliance, a lazy yellow/orange coloured gas flame rather than a sharp blue one or pilot lights which blow out frequently.
I have friends who were really tired and getting headaches for 4 days, they then decided to get a carbon monoxide detector and in fact there boiler was giving the fumes out. There boiler got condemned and the guy from British gas said they were very very lucky. They had to go to hospital to be checked out. Very scary ESP knowing someone who has been effected by this.
Oh no, that’s so frightening you just don’t realise what a silent killer it can be. Very worrying if you have children in the home too – they were so lucky. Thank you for commenting 🙂