Silent Killer
Move to limit danger in high-rise homes
AN initiative to help keep residents safe from a gas dubbed the Silent Killer was launched in the region yesterday.
Your Homes Newcastle (YHN), the company that manages more than 31,000 council houses, will today begin installing carbon monoxide alarms in more than 1,700 high-rise flats across the city.
In its ongoing campaign to keep everyone safe from CO fumes, The Northern Echo has been pressing for just such pro-active action.
The danger from CO is present whenever fossil fuels are being burned and flues and appliances are not regularly checked and serviced by accredited engineers.
The Silent Killer claimed more than 20 lives last year and because symptoms from the fumes mimic influenza and colds there are no reliable statistics to assess how many thousands of people have been subjected to the deadly gas.
At the launch of the Newcastle initiative, at Byker Fire Station, YHN chief executive John Lee said: "Thankfully, deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning are relatively rare, but we still need to do everything we can to safeguard our tenants.
"We're beginning our campaign by concentrating on multi-storey flats where one leak of carbon monoxide could potentially spread to a number of properties."
He advised, however, that as well as the alarms, tenants should have chimneys, flues and appliances checked at least every 12 months.
Meanwhile, the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring (CoGDEM) issued a guide to CO alarms. A spokesman for the watchdog organisation said: "CoGDEM recommends the use of electronic audio alarms to detect CO, battery powered they are the easiest to install and use in the home.''
Current alarms, he said, were easy to use, very reliable and accurate and "can save lives from this deadly poison".
The alarm, he said should be tested and certified to one of the following international standards - EN50291:2001 or UL - and must have a CE mark. Look for the British standards kitemark, LPCB or UL logos on the packaging.
The alarms can be bought in any good DIY store or are available directly from British Gas and Npower.
They cost between £20 and £40 and only one CO alarm is need per house. While it is recommended they should be installed in one of the most used rooms, they are also portable and can be moved around.
Today, Middlesbrough Council Community Protection officers will mark the Awareness Week by hosting an information display stand in the town's shopping mall
11:02am Wednesday 17th October 2007
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
