Silent Killer
Killer gas at school will lead to charge
A COUNCIL is to be prosecuted,
accused of failing to protect children
and teachers from deadly
carbon monoxide gas.
Twenty-five pupils from a
North-East school were rushed
to hospital after complaining of
feeling sleepy.
It later emerged carbon
monoxide was seeping into classrooms
at Crookhill Primary
School, Ryton, Gateshead.
One was kept in hospital
overnight although none were
seriously injured.
The incident happened on November
14, 2006 but the Health
and Safety Executive only announced
it intended to prosecute
Gateshead Council last night.
A spokesman for the executive
said: "The council will face a
criminal charge for a breach of
the Health and Safety at Work
Act (HSLA).
"HSE alleges that Gateshead
Metropolitan Borough Council
did not have an effective gas safety
management system and
therefore did not do everything
reasonably practicable to ensure
the health and safety of people
it did not employ."
John Robinson, group director
of local environmental services
at Gateshead Council, said: "We
take health and safety very seriously
at Gateshead Council and
have co-operated fully with the
HSE throughout its investigation
and will continue to do so.
"This is now a legal matter and
we are unable to comment further
at the present time."
The executive's investigation
into the incident is understood
to have focused on three gasfired
boilers underneath a classroom.
Carbon monoxide is known as
the silent killer, as it cannot be
seen, heard or smelt. The Northern
Echo is running campaign to
raise awareness of the dangers.
Faulty boilers, fires and gas
cookers, together with blocked
flues and chimneys, are the most
common sources of the gas in the
home, which can kill within ten
minutes in a confined space.
The maximum penalty in the
magistrates' court for a single offence
of breaching Section three
of HSWA is a fine of up to £20,000.
It is up to magistrates to commit
cases for trial or sentencing
to the Crown Court, where the
maximum penalty for the offence
would be an unlimited fine.
The first hearing will be at
Gateshead Magistrates' Court on
February 19.
8:29am Tuesday 12th February 2008
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