Madam, – I was grieved to read your recent report on tragic deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
I was hospitalised in December 2006 following carbon monoxide poisoning while staying in a hotel, and I am dumbfounded by the continuing lack of awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide.
While there are media campaigns about smoke detectors there is still no equivalent for carbon monoxide. I call upon the Government to nominate a Minister on issues relating to carbon monoxide, as a single Minister would ensure that a policy relating to carbon monoxide, such as housing, training for healthcare professionals and recording of statistics is adhered to. There should also be more training and information to ensure that frontline healthcare professionals can recognise the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and record accurate data around incidents and deaths. Too often, the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are not recognised and people continue living in a dangerous environment.
I believe that in order to receive a gas safety certificate, landlords should have to provide tenants with a carbon monoxide alarm.
The existing legal requirement for a gas safety certificate only means that an appropriately qualified and registered installer checks the safety of gas appliances, but there is still the potential risk of the appliance failing on some level.
The boiler in the hotel I stayed in had been serviced the month before I stayed there, but if the hotel had provided a carbon monoxide alarm in each of its rooms it would have protected all of the people staying there. To mirror the current requirement for a wired-in smoke alarm to be fitted in all newly-built homes, building regulations should be amended to require an audible wired-in carbon monoxide alarm to be installed. This again is a simple measure which will add no significant cost to homebuilders if the carbon monoxide alarm is installed at the same time as the smoke alarm.
How many more deaths need to occur before the dangers of carbon monoxide are taken seriously. – Yours, etc,