Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Landlords reminded of the dangers of CO

For those landlords who still resist giving proper attention to their gas appliances, this close shave involving the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning might slap them into action.

Fortunately, this time around, the tenants recovered, but it could have all ended very differently, after a the a four month old baby was rushed to hospital for treatment.

The family had been feeling unwell for months prior to the incident, unaware that the invisible killer, CO, was leaking from faulty gas appliances at the rental property.

The landlords, Mehboob Bobat and Suraiya Bobat, were both found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations, following the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovery of  two faulty gas heaters, a gas fire and a gas boiler. 

Trafford Magistrates Court were told the tenants had been feeling unwell for months. 

The mother had collapsed on the kitchen floor, but had put it down to complication in pregnancy, the husband had suffered also suffered from headaches.

Finally, after feeling particularly unwell, they called for an ambulance, and after being rushed to hospital were treated for high levels of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The landlords failed to provide a copy of a valid landlord gas safety certificate to the court, and pleaded guilty to two breaches of gas safety regulations.

Each landlord was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and each were ordered to pay costs of £720.

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2 comments:

  1. Stephanie TrotterOctober 14, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    I think the headline about CO2 is wrong and should have been
    'CO'.
    It shocks me that after nearly 20 years of lobbying for
    raised awareness about the dangers of CO that people still
    don't know what CO is or even the difference between CO
    and CO2. That's why we've pressed for prime time TV warnings
    about the deadly gas CO since 1995.
    Surely the fuel industry is wealthy enough to pay for this?
    Stephanie Trotter, CO-Gas Safety
    www.co-gassafety.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  2. HawkeyeOctober 14, 2014 at 11:02 AM

    Thanks Stephanie for pointing that out - it's been updated.

    I do know the difference, but having not had my coffee this morning I was scribbling without thinking clearly - spelling mistakes abound.

    The red light on my Gaggia is now on, and a heaped table spoon of coffee has been dolloped ready to go.

    Keep up the good work with the campaign.

    ReplyDelete