HSENI campaign warns landlords of carbon monoxide dangers

15th November 2010

THE Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland have launched a new campaign warning landlords of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The ‘Watch Out Carbon Monoxide Kills’ campaign encourages landlords to ensure tenants know the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The campaign advises people with fossil fuel burning boilers and appliances to have them properly installed and serviced on an annual basis, to ensure that carbon monoxide is not produced.

For landlords this means ensuring that the gas appliances in their properties are serviced annually and properly maintained. By law, landlords must ensure a Gas Safe Registered engineer carries out an annual landlord's gas safety inspection of all the gas appliances owned by the landlord in the property being rented. Landlords who employ a letting agency may have an agreement with them to carry out the annual inspections.

HSENI says an audible carbon monoxide alarm provides a second line of defence against carbon monoxide poisoning and although it is not a legal obligation, purchasing an alarm from around £20 is a small price to pay if it saves a life.

HSENI provides the following information on what to look out for.

Carbon monoxide is an odourless, colourless, potentially lethal gas produced by poor combustion of a fossil fuel such as coal, oil, gas or wood. There are danger signs that you can look out for which might mean that your fossil fuel burning appliances might be leaking carbon monoxide:

• Sooting or staining on or around the appliance.

• Excessive condensation in the room where the appliance is installed.

• Lazy yellow/orange coloured gas flames on cookers or boilers, rather than a sharp blue one.

For further information visit the landlord/tenant section of the HSENI campaign website at http://watchout.hseni.gov.uk/ or call 0800 0320 121.